Path of the Chosen 1: A Beginning
by Ferngirl
Summary: Cara's plans for beginning her journey don't end up quite as expected, but things seem to be working out fine. The unusual connection she shares with her team even helps learn about the strange Pokemon that takes apples from her...
1. A Fantastic Birthday Present

Path of the Chosen

I suppose first of all, I should justify myself. I started this story so long ago that I don't even know when I started it. It's been slowly growing over the years, and it's been sitting on my computer for a long time. So instead of letting it rot on my desktop, I figured I'd actually try to DO something with it. It's only now as I'm re-reading the first chapter that I'm seeing how much work this is going to take. But I might as well since it's been a while since I ended my last fanfic project.

So, it's possible that some of you may be here because you read my Zelda fanfic. And if you haven't read it, check it out. I got over 200 comments on it! So, I'll have to try to live up to your expectations with this. I'll be honest. This story is pretty much what I would like to have happen if I ever started a Pokémon journey (though my name isn't Cara). I'm aware that this is a bit cliché. And I know that there are about 2 million of these on fanfic. And the more unique stuff in my… Pokémon adventure doesn't happen for a while. So I'll have to make up for all this my writing as fantastically as I can! I hope you enjoy it, either way. Please read it before you judge! And I am trying to write a little bit from the mind of a ten-year old ( am older than ten in case you're wondering).

And I'll get the stupid disclaimer out of the way. I don't own Pokémon. But I do own Cara and Ben, ex. And my nicknames.

Oh, one last note. You may question my choice of a first Pokémon. But there is a reason for it. When Pokémon first got popular, I didn't care much for it. But then I found a beat up Japanese Ponyta card on the ground (someone told me it was Piñata, not Ponyta!) And that card got me into Pokémon. Now you know!

Thanks for listening!

A Fantastic Birthday Present

I couldn't believe it! It was today! Today I was finally old enough to get my first Pokémon! I was so excited I fairly skipped along the road on my way home from school.

Yes, It was my birthday today, and I was ten years old. Like most kids, I'd been waiting for this moment for years. And now it was here!

Actually, the moment hadn't arrived yet. I still had to wait for a week before I could get my Pokémon. It was sort of unfair. I was old enough to start my journey, but I had to wait another week.

Either way, I was excited. Today, I was ten. I'd waited ten years, so I could be patient for another week. Though I had a feeling that that time would drag by pretty slowly…

Either way, I should introduce myself. I'm Cara Kellan. I've always loved Pokémon. I have blue eyes and thick wavy blonde hair that gets absolutely everywhere unless I keep it tied up in a ponytail. I'm not really tall or really short. I suppose I'm pretty average.

I live in Aqua town. The nearest place to get starter Pokémon is Pallet town, a few miles away. Aqua Town isn't too big, but it does have its own Pokémon center. Over the past year, Id spent every spare moment there, reading every word I could find about Pokémon. I was pretty confident I knew the names of all 149 Pokémon. I'd even seen pictures of the legendary birds!

Since I turned ten today, this was the last day I had to go to school. I'd never been so happy to get out of class.

And to top it off, Zubat and Weepinbell were with me. Zubat belonged to my dad, and Weebinbell was my mom's. They would sometimes meet me after school and walk home with me. Zubat and Weepinbell would let me hold practice battles with them too so I could learn a little about Pokémon moves. But today was the last time I'd be taking that walk with them. At least I had a week to hold more practice battles!

I was wearing a big, foolish grin on my face and walking with a spring in my step. Zubat was perched on one shoulder, and Weepinbell was hanging from the other by his vine.

I reached down to my belt and felt the empty Pokéball there. Ben had given it to me during class today. My first Pokéball, to put my first Pokémon in. He was my best friend. It was actually because of him that I couldn't get my first Pokémon yet. He was going to come with me on my journey, but he didn't turn ten for another week. I'm just glad our birthdays are as close as they are! And I'm sure glad Ben's coming with me. I didn't think I'd have the nerve to travel by myself. Waiting for Ben was pretty much the only thing that I would tolerate as a delay in getting my first Pokémon.

I was so distracted by my happy mood that I didn't notice the voices until I was practically right beside them.

I stopped and glanced around, trying to figure out who was talking. I didn't see anyone else on the street. Then I turned to the bushes lining the road. Sure enough, that's where the raised voices were coming from. Why would anyone be in the bushes back there? And they were shouting. There was another sound too. It was definitely not… human, whatever it was.

For once, my curiosity got the better of me. I left the road and carried Zubat and Weepinbell through the bushes towards the voices.

This was a small wood in the middle of town. A sort of park. Ben and I used to come in here to play all the time. Sometimes there were even wild Pokémon that passed through. So I knew my way around pretty well.

Zubat fluttered beside me and I crept stealthily over the leaves, holding Weepinbell.

The voices grew louder. And then I heard that strange sound again. It almost sounded like… screaming.

Then I saw them through the leaves: Three boys commanding their three Pokémon. And in front of them was a Ponyta. It was rearing up n its hind legs, eyes rolling in terror. The three boys were ordering their Pokémon to attack the Ponyta! And it was hurt! I could see it favoring one leg.

Ponyta lashed out with its hooves, trying to strike the boys' Pokémon: A Raticate, a Spearow, and a Beedrill. Suddenly it let out a piercing whinny- the scream I had heard.

I leapt out of the bushes, furious.

"Stop it!" I shouted. "Three against one's not fair! And that Ponyta is hurt!"

The three boys all turned to me, letting their Pokémon continue to attack Ponyta.

"What do you want?" said the oldest of the boys, apparently the leader. I noticed with a start that all of them were older and bigger than me. "This is none of your business. Get out of here before we make you leave!"

I didn't move. Weepinbell and Zubat were beside me, glaring menacingly at the three boys I front of us.

I risked a glance at the Ponyta. She was still trying to fend off her attackers, but then Beedrill used Poison Sting and Ponyta screamed in pain again.

Then I felt the smooth surface of the Pokéball at my belt. Moving quickly, I snatched the red and white orb and flung it at Ponyta. She was so weakened that there was absolutely no resistance from her. The Pokéball struck her and she dissolved in a wave of red light and vanished inside my Pokéball. It flew automatically to my hand and I held it protectively.

The boys stared at me, not daring to believe that I had just defied them.

Now that Ponyta was out of the way, their three Pokémon turned to me. Now six sets of eyes were fastened on me and my companion Pokémon.

"You give that here," threatened the older boy, "and maybe we won't tear you apart."

"Not on your life," I growled. I was quite aware how pathetic I looked. One ten-year old girl daring to stand up to three boys that looked about five years older than me. Plus they had three Pokémon to my two. And if anything happened to me, we were in the middle of a small wood, hidden from sight in all directions. But I never was one to stand by and let bullies get their way.

The boy gave a jerky nod towards his Pokémon, signaling them to prepare to fight.

I shot a quick glance to Zubat and Weepinbell, trying to warn them that we might be attacked at any moment.

I had to get out in the open where people could find us. And suddenly I had a plan.

"Zubat, Whirlwind!" I shouted.

Zubat flapped his wings and created a powerful gust. The boys covered their faces and their three Pokémon tumbled backwards several feet.

I turned and fled.

It took the boys only a moment to recover. They were after me in a flash.

But this time I had the advantage. I knew right where to go. I'd been through this place enough times that I knew where all the obstacles were.

Around a thick bush, over a fallen log, under a hanging vine, and suddenly I was out on the open road.

I whirled around and me and my Pokémon friends were ready to fight.

The boys and their Pokémon burst out of the woods and blinked in surprise to find themselves out in the open. I seized the moment.

"Supersonic!"

Zubat opened wide his mouth and let out high-pitched sound waves that made the three enemy Pokémon stagger over each other in confusion.

"Vine Whip!"

This time, it was Weepinbell that attacked. He flung out his vines, striking Raticate, Beedrill and Spearow. Raticate collapsed under the combined force of confusion and Vine Whip. But the other two weren't very affected by the grass type move. Beedrill dove forward, its needles stretched forwards to attack.

Before I got a chance to shout out another attack, Zubat intercepted Beedrill, sinking his teeth in for Leech life.

Weepinbell opened his huge mouth as Spearow advanced on him. A cloud of blue powder poofed out of his mouth and settled over Spearow. Spearow blinked a couple time, then collapsed, fast asleep. Weepinbell had used Sleep Powder.

And then Beedrill collapsed as Zubat sucked out the last of its energy.

I blinked, startled. Zubat and Weepinbell had attacked before I got a chance to tell them what to do. But that was what I was going to tell them to do. And if they'd waited for me to make the order, it might have been too late to attack before they were hit. So… how had they done it?

The boys snarled and the three of them advanced on me, not even pausing as they returned their Pokémon.

I took a couple steps backwards. They had lost the battle, but they were still gonna fight me. Without using their Pokémon.

Suddenly a siren split the air. The three boys froze and glanced around.

"Run for it!" The leader shouted. As the other two took off away from the siren, he paused long enough to glare at me with pure venom. "If I ever get my hands on you…"

But the siren was drawing nearer. And he had no choice but to run. All of them vanished around the corner.

A motorcycle screeched around the corner and skidded to a halt near me. Officer Jenny was riding it.

"What happened?" She asked. "Someone reported a fight in the street."

I nodded. "Yeah. There were three boys. But they took off when they heard the siren. They were hurting a Ponyta. I took it from them."

I held out the Pokéball to show her. "I think she's badly hurt. I gotta get to a Pokémon center."

"Well, climb in. I'll get you there before you know it."

There was no time to lose. I climbed in the passenger compartment with Zubat and Weepinbell and Officer Jenny revved the motorcycle to life. I explained what had happened on the way there. Since this was a small town, Officer Jenny knew me a little bit. She recognized me, even if she didn't know my name.

"Well, that Ponyta didn't belong to them if you caught it in a Pokéball. If a Pokémon already has a Pokéball, it won't go into another one. So, the Ponyta is yours."

My heart leapt. _ Ponyta was mine. _

As the adrenalin cleared from my head, the thought slowly came to my mind.

_I had my first Pokémon. _

Jenny screeched to a halt in front of the Pokémon center. I thanked her and ran inside.

"Nurse Joy!" I shouted as I burst through the front doors. "I need your help!"

Joy looked up from the front desk, startled by my loud entrance.

"What is it, Cara?"

I handed her Ponyta's Pokéball and blurted out my story.

Nurse Joy nodded, and she and her Chancey vanished inside the operation room.

After a minute, I took a seat on one of the benches. I waited, praying Ponyta would be okay.

My eyes finally fell on phone in the corner of the waiting room. I stood up and dialed my home phone number. No one picked up the phone, so I left a message saying where I was.

The moment I hung up, Nurse Joy came out of the room.

"How's my Ponyta?" I blurted.

Nurse Joy smiled. She'll be just fine. She was poisoned, and weak from her fight, but she'll make a full recovery. We already gave her an antidote to cure her of poison. Now we just need to treat her injured leg and her other scratches. It's nothing major though."

I sighed in relief and sank back into my seat.

"She just needs to rest a little longer. You can wait here if you like, or you can go home and I'll call when she's better."

"No, I'll wait here. Thanks Nurse Joy."

I peeked into the emergency room and saw my Ponyta on a large table. Her legs were tucked up under her and he head was lowered in sleep. She didn't look in bad shape.

"Well, Cara," Nurse Joy said, smiling. "You got your first Pokémon! Though I'm sure you didn't expect it to happen under such circumstances."

I shook my head, smiling. "Yeah. I'm glad she'll be okay though."

Nurse Joy walked back into the room and shut the door to door.

I leaned back in the seat, letting my mind wander. I'm not usually one to take naps, but without even realizing it, I drifted off to sleep.

_This is a dream. It has to be. I've never seen Pokémon like this before. _

I was standing somewhere I didn't recognize. On top of a hill with the big blue sky stretching endlessly over me.

There were birds above me. Big birds. Three of them I recognized: Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. But then there was a gold bird, larger than the three others. And then a silver flying creature that didn't look too bird-like.

My eyes dropped back to the ground and I saw more strange creatures. There were a lot of them, but I only got a glimpse of the few that were closest.

A small pink creature with a long tail, three cat-like creatures of different colors, a strange floating green creature with antenni, And then there was a purple human-like figure with a thick tail.

It struck me how none of them were moving. They looked frozen in space somehow. Like a photograph. I tried to see some of the other Pokémon behind them, but suddenly the image vanished.

I jerked awake with a gasp. I'd never had a dream like that before. Never one that felt so…real. The images of the Pokémon I'd seen were still vivid in my memory. But the others that had been in the background, they had faded away before I got to look at them. There had been something like a whale… and… blue and silver four-legged creature…

But my thoughts were cut off as I realized what had woken me. Nurse Joy was standing there.

"Oh!" I jumped to my feet. "How's Ponyta?"

Nurse Joy smiled. "She's just fine. She's awake now. You should come and see her."

I nodded vigorously and followed Nurse Joy into the operation room.

Ponyta was up on her feet now. She saw us approach and slowly backed away, looking wary and frightened.

"She's a little shy," Joy whispered.

I nodded. I didn't blame her one bit. She had been treated badly by humans.

I smiled at Ponyta, hoping she'd get the message that I wasn't mean like those boys.

"It's okay, sweetie," I said, slowly taking a step towards her. She backed away as far as she could until she was pressed against the far wall.

"I won't hurt you. I helped you earlier. Don't you remember? Not all humans are bad. Really."

I took another step forward. Ponyta looked tense, but she didn't seem hostile.

I slowly moved closer to her, talking softly all the time, trying to keep her calm. I saw the Ponyta slowly relax as I moved closer, soothed by my quiet words and my peaceful attitude.

By the time I was right in front of her, she didn't look as frightened. She had been listening to what I was saying, and knew I wasn't lying. The smarter Pokémon can usually tell when people are lying.

I slowly lifted my arm towards her face. She raised her nose at the same time, bringing it up to rest in the cup of my hand.

I smiled and stroked the silky muzzle.

"See? It's all right. You're okay now."

Ponyta gazed as me with beautiful blue eyes. She let me reach up to run my hand along her neck, below the fiery mane.

"I think you need a name. I was thinking about it while I was waiting for you to get better. Your coat is white. The pictures of other Ponyta I've seen… well, they had kind of yellowy fur. Yours shines like a star. Polaris. The north star. That's your name. Polaris, the star that points travelers on their way if they're lost."

Polaris nuzzled my shoulder.

"You like it? That's good. I always thought Pokémon should have nicknames. Most people go around calling their Pokémon 'Charmander' or something like that. It's like calling your dog 'dog.' Pokémon should have their own names, just like people!"

I scratched her behind the ear and she sighed in contentment

Zubat and Weepinbell came up behind me.

Polaris looked at them, much calmer now.

"These are my parents' Pokémon," I explained. "They helped me rescue you."

Zubat and Weepinbell went up to Polaris and allowed her to sniff them thoroughly. She then nuzzled them too, to thank them for helping her.

"I couldn't have got you away from those jerks without their help," I explained.

Nurse Joy walked up to me and held out Polaris's Pokéball.

"Here you are, Cara. She's actually a very young Ponyta. Almost a baby. I think you're all ready to go home. All you need…"

We were interrupted by the sound of the front door of the center opening.

Joy and I headed to the lobby to see who it was. Polaris and my parents' Pokémon were behind us.

It was my dad!

He caught sight of the two of us in the doorway and headed toward us.

"Hi, Dad!" I exclaimed.

"Ah, you're still here, Cara! When I got your message I came down. It's a good thing we sent Zubat and Weepinbell after you, huh?"

I nodded, grinning. They sure had been helpful today.

"Well, you're smiling, which must mean that the Ponyta is all right. Where is it?"

"She's right here."

In reply, Polaris stuck her head over my shoulder, examining Dad from head to toe.

He laughed. "Well, it sure looks fine to me."

Her name's Polaris," I explained. We stepped out to the lobby so she could meet Dad. Dad patted her neck.

"Thanks for everything, Nurse Joy!" I said as we made our way to the front doors. Zubat was perched on Dad's shoulder and Weepinbell was sitting on Polaris's back.

"Any time, Cara!" Nurse Joy and her Channcey waved to us as we headed down the street towards home.

I excitedly told the whole story to Dad as we walked. He listened, a little startled that I had risked my own safety to stand up to those boys, but still proud that I did what I did.

Polaris walked alongside me, her hooves making clip-clopping sounds on the cement.

We had a nice little house with a nice big garden for Zubat and Weepinbell. And now Polaris could enjoy it too.

Weepinbell bounced off to find Mom and Polaris set off to explore our yard.

I followed her, showing her everything and letting her munch on the cool grass.

Then Mom came outside and I got to explain my whole story again.

Dad laughed. "She won a battle against three Pokémon using two Pokémon that didn't even belong to her. You'll be a great Pokémon trainer someday, they way you battle."

"Well, Zubat and Weepinbell helped some. Their last couple attacks, I didn't even order them to do anything. They just sort of acted on their own. It was strange. Because I was just about to tell them to attack, but they did it without even waiting for me to tell them what to do!"

"I'll bet you're psychic," Mom teased.

"Oh!" I cried suddenly. "I gotta call Ben and tell him what happened!"

I dashed into the house, leaving everyone staring after me.

It took me only a moment to shout at Ben to come over and listen to my story. Then I was back outside again.

With Ben on his way, I decided to say something that I'd been thinking about for a little while.

"Mom, Dad?" I paused, trying to figure out how to say this. "Well, since I have my first Pokémon now, I was thinking about heading off to Pallet Town tomorrow. By myself. I'll meet up with Ben there next week. But I want to get there by myself… just to prove that I can do it alone if I have to."

My parents exchanged glances.

"Well, I think you've proved that you can look after yourself. And we actually went out to buy all your supplies today. That's why we weren't home when you called. So you have everything that you need."

Mom nodded. "We can call everyone and tell them to come over tomorrow morning to see you off. And we'll call Professor Oak and tell him to expect you early."

"Yeah!" I shouted. "Did you hear that, Polaris? Tomorrow we get to set off!"

Polaris whinnied happily.

Mom and Dad went inside to start making phone calls.

I gave Polaris one last pat and rushed in after them to start loading my pack with everything I would need. My parents had gotten me some Pokéballs and potions, plus maps, clothes, food and everything else I'd need on my journey.

There was a knock on the door. I dashed there and flung it open and came face-to-face with Ben.

Ben was much taller than me with blue eyes and straight brown hair that lay flat on his head. Ben had a knack with all sorts of electronics, unlike me. He's been my best friend for about as long as I could remember. We'd been planning our Pokémon journey pretty much since we were old enough to talk! Or so my parents told me, though that sounded an awful lot like teasing.

Ben and I went around to the side of the house to sit with Polaris.

"Polaris, this is Ben, my friend. He'll be traveling with us next week. And Ben, this is Polaris!"

I was pretty hyper by this time. I had a tendency to do that sometimes. I felt like I was bouncing off the walls, even though I was outside. Ben had seen me like this before, and knew enough to let me talk until I burned myself out.

I chattered on, telling my story yet again. Then I explained that I was gonna set out tomorrow and we were going to wait for him at Pallet town. As it usually happened when I was so excited, as I continued to talk, I got louder and faster in my speech.

Finally I stopped talking, practically gasping for breath.

Ben grinned.

"That's fine. I don't mind meeting you in Pallet Town. I bet you can learn a lot from Professor Oak in a week. Besides, I never really did think it was fair that you had to wait for my birthday before you could set off on your journey."

"Aww, I didn't mind waiting for you."

"I know. I can't wait to meet up with you in Pallet Town though!"

The next morning, all my friends and family were there to see me off. Polaris and I headed down the road. I waved back to everyone, grinning at Ben. He grinned back.

We made our way out of town and down a path through the trees. It would be a few hours walk to Pallet Town.

"I hope we see some Pokémon on the way! Don't you, Polaris?"

She nodded.

"Hey, Nurse Joy told me that you're still a baby. But you look really strong. Can I try riding you?"

Polaris nodded.

I whooped happily and led over to a stump so I could scramble onto her back.

She started slowly down the path.

"You know. I bet it's a lot faster to ride to Pallet Town than walking."

There was a rustling sound in the bushes. Polaris and I turned in time to see something yellow dash from bush to bush.

I hopped off my Ponyta's back.

"Polaris! Go get it!"

Polaris reared up and dashed into the forest leaping easily over a bush.

The wild Pokémon cried out, frightened, and fled right towards me into the middle of the road.

It was a Pikachu!

Polaris was on the Pikachu's heels. She leapt and landed directly over the Pikachu, with her front legs blocking it from going forwards and her back legs keeping it from backing up.

Pikachu had too much momentum built up to stop in time. He crashed right into Polaris forelegs and rolled backwards, slightly dazed. But Pikachu recovered quickly and its cheeks started sparking.

"Look out! He's gonna use Thundershock!"

Polaris leapt out of the way in time to avoid the attack. Pikachu wasn't thinking about running now. He wanted to fight!

"Ember!" I shouted.

Polaris opened her mouth and shot out a shower of small flames.

Pikachu flinched as the fire singed its ears.

"Tackle!"

Ponyta charged forwards, battering Pikachu with her hooves.

"Pikaaa!" Pikachu cried, toppling over, stunned.

I grabbed a Pokéball from my belt.

"Go!" I shouted, throwing it. It struck Pikachu and it vanished in a burst of red light.

The Pokéball fell to the ground, the button blinking red. It rolled from side to side, and then the light went out and the Pokéball was still.

I had done it! Polaris and I had caught a Pokémon!

"YEEEESSS!!" I shouted. "Polaris, we did it! We caught a Pikachu!" I grabbed the Pokéball and held it above me triumphantly.

Polaris whinnied happily. I threw my arms around her neck, feeling her pleasantly warm mane flicker around me.

"I'm gonna name him Pooka. My Dad's friend has a Pikachu named Pooka. That Pooka knows how to surf! The two of them are the best surfers around!"

Just then, we heard a strange sound. We turned to see what it was. I was still holding Pooka's Pokéball in my hand.

There it was, floating in the air above the bushes. It looked like a pink kitten with a long tail and big blue eyes. I had never seen anything like it.

"Muu," it sighed gently.

"Hi! I've never seen a Pokémon like you! How do you float like that if you don't have wings? What are you?" I didn't want to scare it away. And since I knew nothing about it, I didn't think it was smart to try to catch it. For all I knew, it could be really strong. Or it might have a type advantage against Polaris.

"Muu," it said again, doing a back flip.

I laughed. "You keep saying 'Muu.' Is that your name?"

"Mew," she said.

"I thought I knew all the Pokémon in Kanto. But I'd never heard of a Mew.

I slowly reached forwards towards the Mew. She darted forward, gave my hand a playful swat, and then flipped back, giggling.

I laughed again. "Hang on a minute. You might like this."

I pulled off my backpack and pulled out an apple. I held if out on my hand. Mew again darted forwards, grabbed the apple, and spun away again, giggling. She gave me a wink, and then _vanished._ As if she had never been.

Polaris and I stared at each other, wide-eyed in astonishment.

"Mew," I whispered. "I wonder if we'll meet again."

Somewhere in the distance, mixed with the wind in the leaves of the forest, I heard a familiar giggle.


	2. Pallet Town

Pallet Town

After the incident with Mew, I let my new Pikachu out of his Pokéball and Polaris and I introduced ourselves.

Pooka was a sweet Pikachu. I climbed onto Polaris's back, and Pooka rode on my lap and the three of us headed on our way.

I noticed that the streaks on Pooka's back and ears were a little more jagged than they were on the other Pikachu I'd seen. They had smooth markings. This way I'd be able to tell him apart from Other Pikachu.

Polaris accelerated to a trot. At first, I lost my balance and almost fell off. But after a while, I adjusted to the rhythm of the trot and Polaris made excellent time.

In just a couple hours, Polaris, Pooka and I emerged fro under the trees and found ourselves in Pallet Town, a small village like my own home.

Professor Oak's laboratory was easy to spot. It was a large building on top of a hill surrounded by pastures and woods full of Pokémon. All of those Pokémon belonged to other trainers that had set off on their journeys. They sent all their extra Pokémon back here, because trainers can only carry six Pokémon at once.

Polaris and I rode up to the door and I knocked.

"Come in!" a voice called from inside the lab. "I'd get the door, but I'm a bit busy."

I opened the door and walked inside with Pooka on my shoulder. Polaris squeezed in behind us.

Professor Oak was across the room, carrying armfuls of Pokéballs. A few toppled onto the floor, and as he bent to pick them up, more fell and rolled away.

I jumped forward to help, gathering the loose spheres. Pooka helped by picking up all he could carry. Only one in each hand. And Polaris grabbed one in her mouth.

We dumped them all in a box on a desk.

"Oh, thanks. You must be Cara," Professor Oak said. He looked tired, as if he'd just been working on something. Chasing rogue Pokéballs, no doubt.

"Yeah, I'm Cara."

"When I heard you were coming today, I tried to straighten the lab up some. Things have been a bit hectic lately so everything's sort of disorganized."

He looked up at Polaris and Pooka.

"Hang on a minute… your parents told me you only caught one Pokémon. Where'd the Pikachu come from?"

"I caught him on the way over," I explained. "This is Pooka. And this is Polaris."

Professor Oak nodded. Your father told me what happened. How you took on those boys and beat them."

I grew a little red. Why was everyone so impressed with that? Those boys' Pokémon hadn't been that strong, even though they outnumbered me.

"It was nothing," I mumbled. "What happened anyway?" I asked, trying to change the subject. "I mean, why were you carrying all those Pokéballs?"

"When I was trying to straighten up, one of the shelves of Pokéballs fell over. Some of the Pokémon actually got out. I found all of them except for the Charmander that was going to be one of the choices for new trainers."

"You mean one of the set of Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle? That Ben's going to chose from?"

Professor Oak nodded. "Yes. Though I'm afraid that since you already have two Pokémon, you don't need another starter. These are only for beginning trainers without any Pokémon of their own yet."

I nodded, somewhat put out. I figured he'd say something like that, but I was still disappointed. I had really wanted a Charmander.

"Well, let me get your Pokédex, and then I need to look for that missing Charmander."

Professor Oak took a red book-shaped machine from the desk and handed it to me along with a few more empty Pokéballs. "If you don't mind waiting here while I…"

I interrupted. "Can't I come and help you look for the Charmander?"

"That would be great. Come on. I'll show you which way it ran."

We all headed outside and Professor Oak pointed down the road.

"I saw it run that way, but I was too busy trying to catch the Bulbasaur and didn't get a change to go after it. I don't think the Charmander likes me that much. And I'm not as young as I once was."

"Don't worry. We'll find it!"

I vaulted onto Polaris's back with Pooka on my shoulder. Polaris galloped down the road.

Once we were around the corner, I dismounted and the three of us began scanning the area.

Pooka lowered his nose to the ground, searching for a scent. Polaris and I followed until Pooka ran into someone's yard and dove into a bush.

There was a scuffling sound, and Pooka quickly jumped back out.

"Is something in there?" I called, running towards the bush.

Pooka nodded.

I parted the bush and peered down inside. Sure enough, a little Charmander was curled up in there, baring her teeth at us. She had a dark streak across her nose, which I'd never seen on a Charmander before.

"There you are! We've been looking for you!"

"Charr," the Charmander growled.

"Don't be mean. We just gotta take you back to the lab."

Charmander just growled again. I then remembered Professor Oak saying that the Charmander didn't like him.

"Don't worry. A trainer will be by sometime soon. And the two of you can head off to start an adventure! You won't be at the lab much longer. And besides, Professor Oak isn't such a bad guy."

Charmander stopped growling and blinked up at me.

"Char?"

"Yeah, it'll be fine. I promise.

I slowly reached down and lifted Charmander out of the bushes. I hugged her and rubbed her head. She sighed and snuggled against me.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

All of us jumped, startled by the shout.

We all glanced around, until we saw a boy leaning out of the window of the house. He looked about six years old.

I held out the Charmander to show the boy.

"We lost a Charmander. We were looking for it. She was in your garden."

At the sight of the Pokémon, the boy instantly perked up. His eyes took in the Ponyta and Pikachu with me.

"Are you a Pokémon trainer?" He sounded excited.

"Yeah. I just started yesterday."

"Are these your Pokémon?"

"Well, the Charmander isn't. She belongs to Professor Oak. She's gonna go to a new trainer."

"That's cool! You started yesterday and you already have two Pokémon? Which was your first? The Pikachu?"

I shook my head. "I got Ponyta first."

"My name's Ash. When I get old enough, I'm gonna be a Pokémon trainer too! Can I look at your Pokémon?"

"Yeah, why not?"

Ash jumped right out of the bottom story window and ran up to see Polaris and Pooka. I kept Charmander a little bit away since she looked a bit shy.

Ash stroked Polaris's nose and bent over to look at Pooka.

"Wow. I can't wait till I can get my first Pokémon," Ash sighed. "But I still got four years to go."

"Don't worry. It will come before you know it. I didn't think it would ever come either, but here it is! Oh, that's right. Professor Oaks's waiting for me. I have to get going. But I'm staying around here for a week, so maybe I'll come and visit again."

"Bye!" Ash waved as me and the three Pokémon set off towards the lab again.

"Maybe my friend Ben will even chose you as his first partner," I said to the Charmander. "He's a really great guy."

I kept talking to the Charmander as my Pokémon and I headed back up to the lab. I told her what it would be like to pair up with a trainer and learn to battle. And some day, she would evolve. And she was special because she was the only starter that could learn to fly. Which is why I wanted a Charmander: to be able to fly when it evolved into a Charizard.

We got back to the lab. Professor Oak was waiting for us.

"You found it! Great! I was sort of worried because that Charmander doesn't like humans that much. But she seems perfectly happy with you."

Charmander shied away fro Professor Oak a little, snuggling into my shirt.

"She still doesn't look too thrilled with me," Professor Oak muttered, rubbing his head. You're the first person she's really taken to. Maybe you should take her with you."

It took a moment for this to sink in. "You mean I can keep her!"

Professor Oak nodded. "Sure. One of these Pokémon was supposed to be yours anyway. Until yesterday, that is. And I'm afraid it might not get along with the other trainers that are coming. Your friend Ben, and another girl. Speaking of which, you'll be waiting here until Ben shows up, right?"

I nodded.

"I'm a little behind. Do you mind helping me with some of my work?"

I nodded. "I love working with Pokémon! Will you teach me some stuff too?"

Professor Oak laughed. "Of course. I'm happy to share my information with new trainers. But you'll have to sleep on the couch."

I shrugged. "We don't mind. We're probably gonna have to camp out sometimes once we start traveling."

We started working. First of all, we had to set up the shelf of Pokéballs that fell over. And then I got to help feed the Pokémon that trainers kept there.

After that, I realized I had to do something.

I borrowed a pencil and some paper and started drawing.

First I drew all the Pokémon from my strange dream. There were several missing details, but I think I got the general shape.

And then I drew a picture of the strange pink Pokémon I'd met after I left Aqua Town.

When I finished, I took my last sketch to show Professor Oak. He was busy with paperwork, but looked up to see what I had to show him.

"Professor, this is a Pokémon I saw on the way here. I've never seen one like it, and I was wondering if you could tell me what it was."

He too the paper and glanced at it. Then he started laughing. I blinked, not sure what was so funny.

"Where did you see a picture of Mew?" he asked. "Not many people know about it."

"I've never seen a picture of one. That's why I'm asking about it. So it's called Mew? I thought that might be right since that's the sound she made."

Professor Oak smiled and shook his head. "You can't have seen Mew. It's a legendary Pokémon. Said to be the most powerful Pokémon on earth. Pokémon experts all over the world have been unable to find Mew. You probably saw a Raichu or something. They have long tails and big feet."

"But it was pink. And it floated.

Professor Oak only smiled and waved me away. I stomped out of the room, frustrated. I tucked my pictures into my backpack, not willing to ask him about my dream Pokémon and get laughed off again.

"Maybe well learn more about Mew," I whispered to Polaris that night. She curled up on the floor next to the couch and Charren, my new Charmander, and Pooka curled up on my sleeping bag with me.

"He didn't believe me. But we saw it, didn't we?"

Polaris nodded.

The next week flew by. I helped Professor Oak in the lab and I the fields with the Pokémon. He talked as we worked, teaching me about all the different Pokémon kept at the lab. With my three Pokémon, we wandered the fields, gathering data in my Pokédex of all the Pokémon that were kept there. It may have sort of been cheating since I hadn't seen any of these in the wild, but Professor Oak said he didn't mind. This information would help me later in my journey.

We hiked around the woods and caught some more Pokémon. Just common ones: Pidgey, Rattata, and Spearow.

There weren't any trainers around, so we held practice battles amongst ourselves.

Pooka battled Charren, Pidgey battled Spearow. And then two of them would gang up on Polaris since she was stronger and bigger than any one of them.

In addition to practice battles, we also made up games. We raced each other, played hide-and-go-seek, had target competitions with Polaris and Charren's Ember and Pooka's Thundershock. We went to visit Ash a couple times. His mom even cooked us dinner once.

At long last, Ben arrived. His dad gave him a ride to Pallet Town. My Pokémon and I all ran out to greet him. We wasted no time in telling Ben everything that had happened. Though I didn't mention Mew to him yet.

Ben chose Squirtle as his starter. He got his Pokédex and Pokéballs, I left Spearow, Pidgey, and Rattata at the lab and finally it was time for the two of us to set off.

It was time to start our adventure!


	3. On the Road

On the Road

Ben and I started on our way to Viridian City. We hadn't even been on our way for an hour before Ben caught his first Pokémon: a Pidgey. It likes him a lot, and seems pretty tough.

Each of us caught a Mankey and a Sandshrew too.

We took a lunch break by a river and I got out the fishing rod Dad got for me. We sat by the bank, talking. It was the first time I mentioned Mew to Ben. I showed him the picture of it that I dew.

"Professor Oak says it was a legendary Pokémon?" Ben asked. "But he didn't believe you, huh?"

I nodded, annoyed at the memory. "You believe me though, right?"

"Course. I know you're honest. Plus, Pokémon like you a lot. I wouldn't be surprised to hear a legendary did too."

I knew he was teasing, but I smiled. "Thanks, Ben."

"So, what we gotta do is get some proof next time your Mew visits you," he said, grinning. I looked at him suspiciously. I knew that grin. He was up to something.

"What are you planning," I demanded.

"I'll tell you when I finish."

I groaned, but knew better than to argue. Ben was just as stubborn as I was.

I felt a tug on the fishing pole, and quickly reeled it in. It was a Magikarp.

Ben and I stared as the pathetic orange fish gasped and flopped around in front of us.

"Wanna throw it back?" Ben suggested.

"I haven't caught a Magikarp yet, though. Besides, they evolve into Gyarados. Gyarados are supposed to be really tough."

"Well, catch it then and stop staring at it!"

I shrugged and threw the Pokéball. Magikarp vanished easily inside.

"What are you gonna name it?" Ben asked. "You named all your other Pokémon so far."

"Weeellllllllll…" I said, picking up the Pokéball, "I want to name it something that will suit a Gyarados, not just a Magikarp. If all goes well, I'll have him as a Gyarados longer than as a Magikarp . So the question is, what would I name a Gyrados?"

I pictured the huge blue serpent.

"Man, it's like a leviathan. I guess that would be a good name for a Gyarados. Leviathan."

Ben snorted. "You're gonna name a Magikarp 'Leviathan?'"

I shrugged. "It will suit him some day."

So, we headed off again, Ben still laughing about my "Leviathan."

As we continued on, we gave our Pokémon several practice matches to strengthen them up. We set up camp when it got dark and let all of our Pokémon out to sit by the fire as we cooked dinner.

Polaris, Pooka, and Charren snuggled up with me in my sleeping bag. "Leviathan" swam in circles in a little pond that was nearby.

The next morning, we set off again. Pooka rode on my shoulder and Charren rode on Polaris. We all walked on and finally we reached Viridian City.

"Wow, it's so big," I said in awe, staring at the rows of tall buildings.

"Yeah, you've never been to a big city before, have you?" Ben asked. "Dad works in one sometimes, so he's brought me with him a couple times."

We stopped at a Pokémon center to let our Pokémon rest. We called our parents to tell them where we were. For the rest of the day, we looked around the city.

"I thought there was supposed to be a gym in this city," I commented to Ben as the two of us and Polaris walked down the streets.

"Don't you know anything?" shouted a strange voice.

We turned to see who it was that called. There was a boy leaning against a wall, smirking at us.

"The gym leader of the Viridian City gym leaves for weeks at a time. But he's supposed to be one of the toughest leaders in Kanto. I doubt you'd be able to stand up to him. _Especially _if you don't have any badges yet."

"Well, I have to start somewhere," I replied calmly. "So, the gym leader's not here? I guess that means we'll have to head to Pewter City. I don't want to wait here for a few weeks."

But the boy wasn't going to let it go.

"You're going to try to fight gym leaders? Let me see how tough you are!"

He whipped a Pokéball out and twirled it on his finger. "Think you can handle it?"

Ben and I exchanged glances. This would be my first real battle. Suddenly I was filled with excitement. My first battle!

"Yeah, you're on. Polaris, go get em!"

Polaris whinnied and trotted forwards, tossing he mane.

"By the way, name's Terry," the boy said.

"And I'm Cara."

"Good. Introductions over. Let's get ready. Go!"

He threw out his Pokéball, and a Fearow burst out.

"FEEEAAARRR!" Fearow shrieked, swooping up into the air.

Polaris stood her ground, watching Fearow. It wouldn't do any good until Fearow came into range of her attacks.

"Get 'em, Cara!" Ben cheered.

"Peck!" Terry shouted.

"Dodge, Polaris! And use Ember!"

As Fearow swooped in, Polaris faced it down and blasted Ember right down its beak. Fearow shrieked and swerved out of the way of the attack, flying up out of range.

"Don't let it spook ya!" Terry shouted. "Go in again with Fury Attack!"

Fearow circled around again and dove down from directly above Polaris. She cantered out of the way, trying to dodge, but Fearow's beak scraped along her back. She whinnied in pain and reared up, lashing out with her fore-hooves. They struck Fearow's wings as it soared past, making it fall out of the air. Polaris immediately fell on it with her hooves, battering it until it was senseless.

Fearow lay there, dazed and beaten. Polaris trotted importantly back to me.

"You did it, girl! Great battle! You won!" I hugged her neck, and she nuzzled me happily.

"Great job, Cara!" Ben cried.

"Hmm. You're not too bad, I guess," Terry muttered, returning his Fearow. "So, yeah. You're better off just heading to Pewter City for your first gym match. Don't bother coming back here until later. When the gym leader comes back. And if you take my advice, don't come here until you have seven badges already. This gym leader is seriously tough. We rarely hear of anyone beating him. With your Ponyta, you shouldn't have much trouble passing through Viridian Forest."

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind. It was nice battling with ya."

Teri waved and headed back down the street.

"So, what now?" Ben asked.

"Well, I guess we'll head to Viridian Forest."

The next morning we left Viridian City and headed into the forest.

Pooka rode on my shoulder and Ben walked beside me. We stuck to the trail, not wanting to get lost. For a while, we didn't see any Pokémon. There were some Beedrill sitting up in a tree, but we avoided them, careful not to make a sound. We'd heard bad things about what happens when you anger Beedrill. And we didn't want to risk that.

After a while, we ran into a Weedle. Pooka helped me catch it.

Just as I picked up the Pokéball of my new bug Pokémon, something dropped from a tree onto my head. Startled, I squealed and jumped backwards.

Only when I heard Ben laughing did I turn to see what had just bounced off of my head. It was a Caterpie.

Once my pulse returned to normal, I turned on the Caterpie.

"Hey! It's not nice to go dropping on people's heads." But I didn't sound mean. By then I was just amused.

Oblivious to the scare it gave me, Caterpie came and rubbed against my leg. I sighed and picked it up. It made happy sounds and snuggled against me. I shrugged at Ben, and the two of us continued on, Pooka on one of my shoulders, and Karren-my new Caterpie on the other. I actually liked Caterpie a lot. I always thought they were cute. And now I had my own.

After a while, we came upon a little stream. In the distance, I saw a small, round, blue Pokémon. A Poliwag.

"Look!' I exclaimed. Poliwag was startled at my shout and started running away. But Poliwag aren't very good out of water. It tripped and rammed head first into a tree. And then a Beedrill rose out of the branches, angered by Poliwag's intrusion. It buzzed furiously, and Poliwag let out a cry of fright and came running back towards us.

"Pooka!" I shouted.

Pooka leapt off my shoulder and sent out a zap of electricity, frying the Beedrill. Ben thought fast. He knew that if the Beedrill called out for help, it would be bad for all of us. So, he threw his Pokéball and caught it.

By then Poliwag had reached us and was hiding behind my legs. Caterpie crawled down and snuggled against it. I was beginning to think she just liked snuggling with people. I picked her up again and looked at the Poliwag.

"You okay?"

Poliwag nodded, smiling at me.

"That's good. Sorry if I startled you when I shouted."

Poliwag nodded. He was just glad I saved him from the Beedrill.

"Do you want to come with us?"

Poliwag nodded happily and let me catch him in a Pokéball.

With several more Pokémon on our team, the dark path through the forest didn't seem quite so foreboding.


	4. First Badge

First Badge

Before long, we reached Pewter City. By then, I had figured out my favorite Pokémon. Polaris, my Ponyta of course. Pooka (Pikachu), Charren (Charmander), Welly (Poliwag), Karren (Caterpie) and Leviathan (yes, a Magikarp).

I knew that the gym leader of Pewter City specialized in Rock type Pokémon. Which meant that Welly would be a very good choice. A Gyarados would be very handy for that, but I doubted if my Magikarp would evolve soon enough to be of use.

Though I knew fire types weren't very good against rock, I still decided to use Polaris in the match. After all, she was my strongest Pokémon, even if Ponyta aren't noted for their strength. More for their speed. But she was fast enough to make up for her poor defense.

We spent the night at the Pokémon Center and spent the rest of the day training like mad. We hadn't really done much training as we traveled through Viridian Forest. We just wanted to get out of there. Now we really needed to make up for our lack of practice. We needed to think of a strategy.

As the rest of us worked and thought, Magikarp spent most of the time swimming around in circles in the pond. I'd quickly given up on trying to train him. He was completely uninterested in battling. I'd just have to let him evolve in his own sweet time. Hopefully he'd be worth it. So, I just let him have his way for now.

"You know," Ben commented as he watched the fish swim around absently. "You could switch that for another Pokémon at Professor Oak's lab."

"If I do that, it'll never evolve," I stubbornly insisted.

Ben shrugged. "Suit yourself. I'm just thinking about your gym battle."

"Well, it's two on two. I have my two Pokémon picked out already. Magikarp won't be in the way at all."

"If you say so," Ben muttered. "By the way, you go first. I mean, you can challenge the gym first."

"Hey, thanks Ben!"

"Don't thank me," Ben said, grinning a bit. "It just means I get more time to train."

"That's true. But I'm glad to go first. I'm so nervous already! I want to get it over with! I feel like Butterfree are fluttering around in my stomach! Are you nervous, Polaris?"

Polaris shook her head, fluttering her flaming mane. I grinned. "Well, I'm glad you're confident. What about you, Welly?"

Poliwag gave a little shiver.

"You're nervous too, huh? That's okay."

"Cataaa!" Karren the Caterpie cried. Ever since I'd caught her, she'd been sitting on my shoulder. The moment her Pokéball was open, up she'd climb. Ben told me it would become my trademark: A girl riding a Ponyta with a Caterpie on her shoulder. Hopefully Caterpie would evolve though. I loved Caterpie, but they weren't too strong by themselves. At least they evolve quickly.

Ben and I with all our Pokémon sat at the edge of Magikarp's pond, eating our lunch. Ben finished before me and pulled out one of his contraptions. Ever since I'd known him, he'd been experimenting with electronic stuff. And he still does it.

Except now, he'd opened up the back panel of the Pokédex.

"What are you doing?" I asked, trying to peer over his shoulder.

Ben snatched it away, hiding it from view. "I'm almost done. I'll show you then."

To distract me, he thrust something in my hands. Another one of his contraptions. This time, it was just a normal camera.

I sighed and played along. There was no use bothering Ben about anything when he was tinkering with electronics. His mind got all tangled up in the wires.

"So, is this a Ben camera, or is it just a normal store-bought camera?"

"Normal," Ben muttered, still poking around in the wires of the Pokédex.

"Don't break that Pokédex," I muttered. IT wouldn't do to have him rip some of the wires. He might not be able to fix it.

I turned the camera on and started scanning the digital pictures. The Pokémon gathered around me, looking at them also. Ever since we headed off on our journey, the two of us had been taking pictures like mad. We had pictures of all our favorite Pokémon, of them battling, sleeping, or snuggling with each other. And of course there was the shot of me riding Polaris with Karren on my shoulder.

As Ben worked on his dex, I got all of our Pokémon training again. We had hem switch off between races, practice battles, accuracy practice for special attacks, dodging, jumping, ex. Anything I thought might come in handy.

Ben was going with his Squirtle and Pidgey for his gym match. Along with his new Nidoran, those were his two favorites. I wasn't sure how well a Pidgey would do, but I suppose the same could be said about Ponyta.

We battled everyone that came along. Even a little boy with a Sandshrew. He was actually pretty tough. I got in four practice battles.

Until dinnertime, we trained. Then we stopped and let our team get a nice long rest all evening. It wouldn't do to overwork them. It would be very bad if they were all too exhausted to battle the next day.

All that night, I sat in bed cuddling my smaller Pokémon. I was silently begging that tomorrow would turn out okay.

I needed to be confident, but not too much so. Bad stuff happened when a person was too sure of themselves.

It took me a while to fall asleep, but after a while, I drifted off as I listened to Caterpie snore.

The next morning, I was pretty nervous. Ben had to force me to eat breakfast. And I couldn't sit still. I kept pacing.

"Stop that," Ben groaned. "You're giving me a headache! Stand up, walk across the room, pick up your bag, put it down again, sit down, stand up…"

"I'm sorry!" I cried. "I can't help it!"

"I know. It's not your fault. It's just… kinda annoying."

"I'll try to sit still."

"No, let's just go. The longer you sit here, the worse it'll get. Let's just hope the gym leader's opened the gym this early."

With all our Pokémon stowed safely in their Pokéballs, the two of us headed down the road and towards the gym.

The Pewter Gym was a large building that was actually made out of rock. I stood facing the dark entrance and gulped. Ben gave me a little push and I stepped hesitantly inside.

I tried to look confident as I entered the arena. I glanced around, but didn't see anyone.

"Is anyone here?" Ben shouted. His call echoed through the arena.

"So, I've been waiting for you," came a voice.

Ben and I turned to see an older boy walking up to the arena from the other side of the gym. It was Brock,

"You've been waiting for us?" I repeated blankly.

Brock nodded. "My little brother battled you yesterday. He told me to expect you as a challenger."

Oh, it must have been the little boy with the Sandshrew.

"Well, he was right. Here I am. And I challenge you to a gym match."

"I accept. The terms are simple. We each use two Pokémon. Whoever loses both first loses."

I nodded and took out Welly's Pokéball. I tossed it out, releasing my Poliwag. Brock took note of Welly and then sent out his own Pokémon. A Geodude.

"Tackle!" Brock shouted.

Geodude bounced forwards, threatening to crush Welly beneath its rocky body.

"Look out, Welly! Jump up!"

Welly hopped into the air and landed right on Geodude's head, bouncing off and quickly running away.

Geodude blinked and glanced around, trying to find where Welly had gone. He had, in fact, hidden himself behind one of the rocks that filled the stadium.

"Rock throw!" Broc shouted.

Geodude lifted one of the rocks and hurled it at Welly's hiding place. Welly cried out as his rock shield shattered under Geodude's attack. Welly dodged out from under the hail of pebbles, but stumbled and fell flat on his face. Geodude seized the opportunity and grabbed Welly's tail, hurling him towards the wall.

"Water Gun the wall!" I shouted.

Welly turned in mid-air and used the attack against the wall. It slowed his crazy flight and he fell lightly to the floor.

"Bubble!" I shouted.

Geodude, stunned that Welly had managed to escape damage, didn't dodge in time and Bubble hit it.

Geodude grabbed another rock and hurled it at Welly.

I didn't have time to shout an order. But Welly acted on his own. He used Water Gun with enough force that the rock stopped and then was sent flying back along with a stream of water. Water and rock hit Geodude. Geodude cried out and collapsed.

Brock returned his beaten Pokémon.

"Great job, Welly!" I shouted! I could see him panting hard. He was tired, but he could manage a bit longer.

Then Brock sent out his second Pokémon. Onix.

I gulped and stared up at the massive rock snake. Welly trembled in fear. He'd never seen anything so big before.

"Hang in there!" I called to him.

Bind!" Brock shouted.

"Look out!" I cried.

Welly started to run, but once again, his little feet gave out under him and he tripped. Onix's huge tail wrapped around him, wrapping Poliwag in its massive coils.

Poliwag cried in pain as the rock snake constricted him. And there was no way he could maneuver around to hit Onix with an attack.

This was where my strategy came in.

"Welly! Aim Water Gun up in the air!"

Welly managed as best he could. He shot his attack up in the air. The water hit the ceiling and splattered over the whole field, raining down over Onix.

Onix roared in pain and released Poliwag. Poliwag staggered a bit, shaken from the heavy damage he'd taken.

But Onix recovered quickly and launched himself forwards, slamming into Welly. Welly hit the wall hard and fell to the ground.

I returned him.

"Good job, Welly. You did very well against that Onix. You can rest now."

I hesitated as I reached for Polaris's Pokéball. Could she really stand against such a huge Pokémon? A Pokémon she had a disadvantage to? Well, we'd find out.

"Go, Polaris!"

I threw out her Pokéball and she appeared. She looked calmly up at the giant Onix, who stared down at the little Ponyta.

Brock gave a little snort of laughter. He couldn't believe I'd chosen such a Pokémon for this.

"If you have a plan for this, it must be very good. I can't imagine a Ponyta standing against an Onix for long. And Onix didn't take that much damage from your Poliwag. Onix, Bind it!"

Polaris leapt lightly away from Onix's tail as he tried to wrap her up.

"Ember!"

Polaris released a jet of flame that hit Onix square on the head. The water that was still on its rocky body hissed and steamed.

Onix roared as the steaming water filled the air around him.

I grinned as an idea suddenly came to me.

"Polaris, use Ember on the puddle left by Welly!"

Polaris's flames hit the water, filling the air with thick steam. The moisture in the air made Onix sluggish and weak. He thrashed around, trying to fan away the steam.

"Use Ember again!"

Polaris unleashed the attack. Onix groaned and as he pulled away, he struck the wall and fell over.

Polaris leapt into the air, using the attack we'd practiced ever since she'd learned it yesterday afternoon. She came down on Onix;s head with hooves harder than diamond, using Stomp.

With one last groan, Onix rolled on his side and was still.

For a moment I stood there, stunned. Polaris was still standing beside the giant snake, not a mark on her. She turned and trotted back to me, tossing her mane and giving a little whinny. It was like she was saying, "Well, that was fun. Let's do it again sometime!"

It finally sunk in as Brock returned his Pokémon. I had won my first gym match!

Ben was shouting and cheering for me.

I ran up and hugged Polaris.

"That was wonderful, sweetie! Thanks a lot!"

Brock stepped up to me and handed me the silver boulder badge.

I took it and admired its shining surface. Then I looked up and grinned at Brock, pinning my badge to the little case Mom got for me.

"Well, I was wrong. That is a special Ponyta you've got," Brock admitted.

"Yeah, I know. Thanks."

He looked over to Ben. "Are you going to challenge me too?"

Ben nodded.

"Well, you'll have to come back tomorrow, I'm afraid. I need to heal my Pokémon after this battle."

Ben laughed. "That's fine. I should train a bit more too. Now I know what to expect for my first gym match! Hopefully my Squirtle will be strong enough by then. He looked at me and grinned. "But I know it's stronger than your Leviathan!"

I stuck my tongue out at him. "If you keep teasing him like that, he won't like you when he evolves." And in response to Brock's confused look, I quickly explained, "We're talking about my Magikarp."

Brock nodded. "Ah. Well, would you guys like to stay for dinner tonight? You can let my little brothers and sisters play with some of your Pokémon if you don't mind. They'd like that. "

"Yeah, that would be fun! Thanks!"

Brock was a great cook. And his siblings had a lot of fun with our Pokémon. It was kind of funny. Brock was really tough about battling, but was really good with his siblings. You never can tell about a person.

And the next day, Ben had his gym match too.

His technique was pretty ingenious, actually. His Squirtle quickly took out Geodude, and then he had his Pidgey zoom around Onix's head, making him dizzy. By the time Pidgey was defeated, his Squirtle had no trouble beating Onix.

By the time we left Pewter City, we each had our first badge, plus a new friend.


	5. The Bulbasaur Trainer

The Bulbasaur Trainer

Ben and I made our way towards Cerulean City and our next badge. We drew away from Pewter City. Mount Moon towered over us. By noon, we were at its base. We stopped in the shade of the mountain for lunch.

Ben pulled out his Pokédex again and began working on it.

I watched all of our Pokémon play around and I leaned back in the moss, smiling. It was very peaceful here. Pooka curled up next to my head.

"You know," I said after a while, "We never did meet the third trainer."

"Third trainer?" Ben repeated. I was surprised that he actually replied. Usually he didn't listen to me when he was working on his electronics.

"Yeah. You know, I got Charmander, you got Squirtle. I wonder who got Bulbasaur? I would like a Bulbasaur. And a Squirtle too, actually."

"Mmm hmm," Ben muttered.

I sighed. He was buried in his work again.

I rolled over on my side to see what he was doing.

"Almost done with the dex?"

He nodded.

I sighed and pulled my pack up to me. I fished around in it, looking for something to do. I found the picture of Mew.

I pulled it out and stared at it for a moment. Mew. I hadn't seen her since that first day. Where was she now? How come she'd appeared to me when no one else could find her? And she sure didn't look like the most powerful Pokémon on the planet. She was really cute and sweet. Playful too.

"We should try to catch it," said Ben's voice from right behind my head.

I jumped and dropped the paper. I hadn't noticed him stop working. He'd come up behind me.

"Don't Do that!"

Ben grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. You can be as oblivious as me sometimes. Don't pretend like you're not."

I shrugged and picked up my paper again, stowing it safely in my pack. "I'd like to see her again some day."

"Yeah. I'd like to see it too. Hey, I finished."

It took me a moment to figure out what he was talking. Then he held out his Pokédex.

"Oh! You're done! Great. What did you do to it?"

"I added a camera so we can send pictures to Professor Oak if we want. That way if we get a picture of Mew, he'll have to believe you."

I smiled and shook my head. "That's great, Ben. But if I see Mew again, I don't think I'll tell Professor Oak."

"How come?"

"I think Mew's better as a secret."

Ben was silent for a moment, then he smiled. "Yeah. I suppose you're right. But I also added a phone to the dex. We can talk if we get separated."

"But Ben," I said, "we each already have both cameras and phones. Why did you need to add both to the Pokédex?"

Ben shrugged. "Just to see if I could, I suppose. I like doing that stuff."

I sighed and shook my head. "I think there was too big a risk of breaking your dex. I'm fine with a separate camera and a phone. Maybe I'm just old-fashioned, huh?"

"I'm surprised you can even work a phone and a camera!" Ben laughed. He fled, grinning, as I swung my pack at him.

"You'd never find your way through the mountains without me!" I shouted. "With your nose stuck in those wires!"

Ben grinned evilly. "I know. We're two opposites. And yet we get along great, huh? Until you start swinging your pack at me."

Just then, something rustled in the grass next to us. I saw something pink out of the corner of my eye. I automatically thought, Mew!

But it wasn't Mew. It was much rounder, and it didn't float. A Jigglypuff.

Jigglypuff sat at the edge of the grass for a moment, staring at us. I nodded to Pooka, who leapt up and dashed around behind Jigglypuff, cutting off its escape route.

Jigglypuff inflated in anger and opened its mouth to start singing. I'd heard about Jigglypuff. If you hear them sing, you fall asleep.

"Thundershock!" I shouted.

Pooka immediately attacked, zapping the Jigglypuff with his electricity.

I quickly threw my Pokéball, catching the Jigglypuff inside. But, as usual, it vanished the moment Jigglypuff was securely captured. Jigglypuff would be with Professor Oak by now.

Just then, there was a rustling in the grass, and another Pokémon jumped out. A Bulbasaur!

And a moment later, a girl burst out of the bushes after the Bulbasaur. She was our age with curly light brown hair. The Bulbasaur obviously belonged to her.

She froze when she saw the two of us sitting there. Then she smiled.

"Oh, hi! Did you see a Jigglypuff come through here? Bulbasaur an' me were trying ta catch it."

I blinked, and rubbed the back of my head rather guiltily. "Yeah, I did. But I just caught it. I didn't know anyone was after it.

Her face fell. "Well, shoot. I've been trying to find a Jigglypuff."

"By the way," Ben said, "Did that Bulbasaur come from Professor Oak?"

"Yeah, it did. A little over a week ago." She turned and studied Charren and Ben's Squirle. "Is that where you got your Pokémon?"

Both of us nodded.

"Yeah, we were just there too. My name's Cara."

"And I'm Ben."

"My name's Amber. Professor Oak told me about you two, but I got there the day after you left. But I'm glad Bulbasaur was left, because that's the one I really wanted!"

"Saur!" her Bulbasaur exclaimed.

"Did you get your Boulder badge?" Ben asked. "Are you heading to Cerulean City?"

"I just got that badge this morning," she said. "And yes, I'm headed to Cerulean."

"We are too," I said. I was going to invite her to come with us, but she spoke before I could invite her.

"Maybe I'll see you there. Good luck passing through the mountain. It can be rough."

And without another word, she turned and walked back the way she came.

Ben and I blinked at each other.

"I hope she can make it through here by herself," Ben said.

I nodded. "Yeah. Too late to invite her with us. Let's get going."

We returned all of our Pokémon, except Pooka, who rode on my shoulder. I usually kept at least one of my out with me.

As the trail moved up into the mountains, it became more rocky and overgrown. We had to move carefully to not trip on the rocks. I did, in fact, trip over a Geodude. And I caught it as it tried to run.

When the trail moved closest to the base of Mount Moon, I suddenly froze in my tracks. I had just heard something. A familiar giggle coming through the trees. There was a flash of pink through the branches.

Ben didn't notice I had stopped walking.

"Ben!" I hissed. "Ben! That's Mew there!"

"What?" Ben turned and saw that I was a ways behind him.

The pink creature moved away from the trail, towards the mountain. Without thinking, I jumped off the trail in hot pursuit.

"Cara, wait!" Ben shouted.

I didn't listen but ran, dodging through the trees.

Pooka was clinging to my shoulder tightly, trying not to get hit by passing branches.

I couldn't see Mew anymore. Where did she go?

"Mew!" I shouted. "It's me! Don't you remember?"

Something glimmered through the leaves ahead of us. I kept chasing the mirage ahead of me. I heard Ben following.

"Wait!' he shouted to me.

But I didn't listen. I plunged deeper into the forest, away from the trail and towards the wild mountain.

Suddenly the trees parted and we found ourselves against the face of the mountain. I skidded to a halt. I didn't see Mew anywhere. Instead, I was facing a dark cave.

Ben appeared behind me, panting.

"Cara! What are you doing? We'll get lost!" Then he spotted the cave.

"Whoa!"

For a moment, we stood staring into the inky blackness of the tunnel before us. Ben rolled his eyes.

"I know what you're thinking. Let's get in there and get it over with."


	6. The Thieves in the Cave

A quick note. The ending is cheesy/corny. Any dish you like that's cliché. Sorry. Heheh.

The Thieves in the Cave

"It's pitch black in here," I muttered. "Hang on. I have an idea."

I sent out Charren. The flame at the tip of her tail illuminated our trail.

"Hey," Ben exclaimed, examining the tunnel floor. "There are footprints here. Shoe prints. Fresh ones. Some humans are in here."

"I wonder if it's Amber," I muttered thoughtfully. "She came this way."

Be shook his head. "These prints are too big. I doubt Amber had such big feet."

We headed deeper into the cave. We ran across a couple Zubat. One of them rushed us, but Pooka zapped it and I caught it.

"You don't catch too many Pokémon, Ben," I noted. "I catch all the new ones I see, but…"

"I know," Ben said. "I only catch the Pokémon I really like, unless there an opportunity too good to miss."

The tunnel kept going farther back into the mountain. We walked on for several minutes, Charren lighting the way and Pooka waking next to her. Luckily the tunnel didn't branch, so were were confident we could find our way out again.

Suddenly we froze.

"Shh!" Ben hissed. "Do you hear that?"

I did. Voices. And one of them sounded familiar.

"Let me go!" echoed the voice of Amber from somewhere ahead of us.

"You're going to tell us where you found that moon stone, little girl," snarled the voice of a man.

There was a strangled shout, and then a gasp.

A second man snarled, "That's what you get when you mess with Team Rocket!"

Ben and I exchanged horrified glances. Team Rocket was a group of Pokémon criminals. They stole Pokémon, or used Pokémon to steal other valuable objects. And they had Amber. Apparently they were trying to find out where she had gotten a moon stone-an object that evolves Jigglypuff, Clefairy, Nidorino, and Nidorina.

"Evolution stones are rare" Ben mouthed to me. I nodded. Rare and valuable.

I returned Charren so her glowing tail wouldn't draw attention. But I left Pooka out in case we were ambushed.

Ben and I crept silently forwards until the tunnel opened up into a cave. There were three people standing next to a stalagmite. Two men in black uniforms with a red R on the front. And one of them was holding Amber's arms behind her back as the second brandished a moon stone at her. Behind them was a small underground lake, which was splashed occasionally as water dripped from the ceiling. And next to the three humans was a cage with a Clefairy locked inside. She was gripping the bars of her cage and staring out at Amber and the two men from Team Rocket. Next to Clefairy's cage were Amber's six Pokéballs.

Ben and I nodded to each other and started dodging our way closer to Amber and her captors, darting between stalagmites and boulders.

Suddenly there was a shout behind us. Ben and I nearly leapt out of our skin and Pooka fell off my shoulder.

A woman had appeared through a tunnel. And she was in a Team Rocket uniform too. She had seen us.

Before Ben or I could react, she threw out a Pokéball and released a Tangela. It used Vine Whip to pin our arms to our sides. Pooka leapt out of the way and tried to shoot a Thundershock at Tangela, but Tangela sent out Stun Spore. The yellow powder drifted over Pooka, who tensed and collapsed, paralyzed.

I gasped and prayed that Pooka would be all right. If I could only get to him I could use a Paralyze Heal. But Ben and I were tied up by Tangela.

Amber and her two captors turned and saw Ben and us standing there, wrapped up Vine Whip. The woman who caught us made us march over to where Amber was being held. Tangela used Vine Whip to tie the three of us to the Stalagmite.

One of the men turned to the woman.

"Deena," he said, saluting. "We caught this girl in here, trying to catch this Clefairy. She had a Moon Stone, but she won't tell us where she found it."

"And you two were going to let these two kids sneak up on you," Deena sneered. "You should pay more attention to your surroundings. Let's see what we've got here."

She took one of my Pokéballs from my belt. Charren's.

"Give her back!" I shouted. Deena ignored me and took the rest of my Pokémon, along with Ben's. They left poor Pooka on the ground a little ways away.

Deena snorted. "All first stages of evolution. You're new trainers, aren't you? And you hope to compete with the might of Team Rocket? What's this?"

She had just picked up Magikarp's Pokéball.

"A Magikarp!" she snorted. "You should know better than to carry around a Pokémon as weak as this. I thought Caterpie was bad enough."

I gritted my teeth and watched as she piled Ben and my Pokémon with Amber's. But Magikarp's Pokéball she tossed towards the little lake where it burst open, leaving Magikarp flopping pointlessly in a shallow puddle.

"Give our Pokémon back!" Amber snapped. "And let us go!"

"Not unless you tell us where you found that Moon Stone, little girl," Deena snapped.

"What do you want with Moon Stones?" I said, trying to distract her.

"That's none of your business," said one of the men. It seemed like Deena was at a higher rank than the two men.

The three of them moved away, studying the moon stone. We couldn't hear what they were saying.

"If we could just get to our Pokéballs!" Ben growled.

"Too bad your Magikarp is the only Pokémon we have out, except for your paralyzed Pikachu," Amber grumbled. "Honestly, why do you keep such a weak Pokémon with you?"

"I want him to evolve," I muttered. I knew Magikarp wasn't very good, but I didn't like people talking about him like that. He could probably even hear them, since he was just a few feet away from us. "If only I could get Pooka to wake up!"

Then I was struck by an idea. If Pooka could get wet, that would wash away the Stun Spore.

"Magikarp!" I whispered.

It was hard to tell if he heard because he kept flopping there saying "karp karp karp."

"Magikarp, I need you to try to splash some water on Pooka. Please try!"

Magikarp just flopped around.

"Magikarp, use Splash!"

Well, he used Splash. Not that the water reached far enough to touch Pooka, who was about 20 feet away.

I sighed hopelessly. Then a thought came to me. That first day when I'd found Polaris, Zubat and Weepinbell had taken my orders before I gave them. If there was anything significant about that event, I would need to put it to use now.

I shut my eyes and _thought _to Magikarp, _please, Leviathan, I need you to splash some water on Pooka! Please try!" _

Magikarp just flopped there, gasping wetly.

"This is pointless," Amber grumbled.

I sighed. "We need to think of a strategy. Do we know if they have any Pokemon besides Tangela?"

Tangela wasn't paying attention to us, luckily.

Amber shrugged. "I dunno."

"We gotta think of something before those three come back here!" Ben hissed.

"No kidding," I growled. "If only my Magikarp…"

Suddenly Leviathan, my silly little Magikarp, shoved his tail into the ground and launched himself out of the puddle, into the air. He landed on Pooka, spraying him with the water that flowed off of his scales.

For a moment, nothing happened except Magikarp kept flopping around on the rock floor. Then Pooka slowly pushed himself up and glanced around.

Team Rocket hadn't noticed anything yet.

Pooka ran over to us and leapt at the vine holding me in place. He sank his teeth into it, making Tangela cry out and loosen his hold on me. I pulled myself free and dodged away from the vines. Pooka landed in front of me, sparking threateningly.

This time, Team Rocket turned around. I would have tried to grab my remaining Pokéballs, but they and the Clefairy closer to Team Rocket than they were to me. They'd get there first if I made a dive for them. All I had was Pooka.

Deena reached for one of her own Pokéballs and Pooka jumped forwards, ready to battle.

Deena sent out a Venonat. Pooka used Thundershock, but Venonat dodged to the side and jumped forwards with Tackle. Pooka jumped back to where Magikarp was flopping. To my amazement, Pooka grabbed Magikarp's tail and threw the fish right into Venonat. The fish smacked the little bug in the face with his tail and fins. Venonat kicked him awayLEviathan bounced backwards where he landed in the small pond.

Suddenly, there was an explosion of light from the lake. It blinded Venonat, and even Tangela was stunned enough so that Amber and Ben could struggle free of the vines.

All of us realized at the same moment that the bright light was coming from Magikarp. He was glowing! And he was growing! His body lengthened and grew until he was no longer a little fish, but an enormous sea serpent-Gyarados!

Leviathan, my Gyarados, roared and shot a blast of water at Venonat, knocking it backwards.

Tangela jumped to Venonat's aid, and the two of them stood side-by-side, facing us.

But now they were between us and our Pokéballs. We only had Pooka and Leviathan against whatever Team Rocket might send against us.

The two Team Rocket men each pulled out their own Pokéball and threw them out. They revealed a Magnemite and a Machop.

Leviathan dragged himself out of the water and Pooka jumped to his side.

Then Team Rocket's Pokémon attacked. All of them rushed forwards at once.

Pooka darted forward with Quick Attack and blended it with Thundershock to knock Venonat out of the way. Leviathan lunged and used Bite on Tangela, ko-ing it.

Magnemite floated out of the way of Gyarados and shot a Thundershock at him. Leviathan reared back, roaring in pain, but Magnemite sent out another attack-Thunder Wave, and Leviathan crashed to the ground in defeat.

I inhaled sharply. It was just Pooka against both Magnemite and Machop. He was a higher level than Leviathan, but he wasn't strong against Magnemite.

Pooka took a step backwards, still sparking with determination.

Machop, Magnemite, and Pooka all charged towards each other. Deena pulled out two more Pokéballs and released the Pokémon inside-Dugtrio and Grimer.

And from the cage behind them, Clefairy started wagging her hands back and forth. I knew what she was doing. She was using Metronome. That meant that ANY MOVE that ANY Pokémon can learn might come out of the little pink Pokémon. It turns out that Metronome produced a Slash attack, allowing Clefairy to slash through the bars. Now that she was free, she leapt forwards and used Doubleslap on Grimer, who slumped in defeat.

But Machop noticed the new opponent and pulled himself out of the tussle with Pooka to go for Clefairy. He charged forwards with a Low Kick-a super effective hit against the normal-type Clefairy. And she didn't have any time to dodge.

I didn't even think. I pulled out an empty Pokéball and hurled it at the Clefairy. And she vanished inside just as Machop hit where she had been a moment before. The problem was, now that Clefairy was safely caught, her Pokéball was automatically sent to Professor Oak. Now we couldn't use her to battle. Yeah, I'm stupid.

Just then, Magnemite used Sonic Boom on Pooka, sending him flying backwards.

I ran forwards and caught him before he hit the ground.

"Pi… ka…" he groaned, trying to move. But he was so weak. And Dugtrio had an advantage against him. He could probably continue fighting if he had to, but I didn't want him getting hurt more if I could help it.

Just then, a strange scuffling sound came from the tunnel Ben and I had emerged from. Everyone looked up, not sure what to expect. Another person from Team Rocket? A good guy? Or maybe even a wild Pokémon.

And then it appeared. A Rattata.

There were several seconds where everyone stared at the little purple mouse. Then suddenly Rattata opened it's mouth and shot a Flamethrower at Magnemite and Dugtrio, instantly knocking them out. It turned and sent a Water Gun at Machop, defeating him as well.

Ben and I stared at each other. Rattata didn't learn Flamethrower _or_ Water Gun. And suddenly the Rattata _transformed_ into a Pidgeot and flew at Team Rocket. They and their Pokémon all fled the cave, dropping the moon stone in their haste. And we were alone in the cave with the Rattata/Pidgeot. Pidgeot landed on the ground at the entrance of the tunnel Team Rocket had just run down.

We all stood there in silence for a moment staring at Pidgeot. Then Amber silently strode forwards and picked up her moon stone.

"Well, crud," she said at last. "I was hoping to catch a Clefairy, but this commotion will have scared all of them away. And that one you caught, well, Team Rocket got to it before I did. And when they saw I ahd a moonstone, they tried to take it from me and them where I found it." Amber shrugged. "I'll find a Clefairy eventually." She turned to me. "Your Pikachu and Magikarp… I mean Gyarados," she shot an uneasy glance towards the unconscious serpent, "really helped out."

We all walked over to where our Pokéballs were, keeping an eye on the strange Pidgeot. We sorted out our own Pokémon and clipped them back to our belt. I returned Pooka and walked over to Leviathan. I patted him. "Thanks buddy. You did great." I returned him.

Then all of us turned and stared at the Pidgeot. For a minute, it stared at us too.

Amber hesitated, then turned to us. "Thanks for helping me, guys. I'm sorry I made fun of your Magikarp. He ended up saving the day, didn't he?" She gave a little laugh, and turned to give an uncertain glance at the Pidgeot. "I wonder if it's a Ditto. They can transform into any Pokémon."

"Yeah, I muttered. "But they usually need to see the Pokémon they're transforming into. And we didn't have any Rattata or Pidgeot around."

Amber shrugged. "Well, anyway, thanks. Maybe I'll see you guys around. I should get going though. Maybe I'll see you in Cerulean. Unless you're leaving now. Then I'll walk out with you."

"Sure," Ben said.

But I shook my head. "I want to see something with the Pidgeot. Maybe we'll catch up to you in a minute."

Amber shrugged. "Okay. See ya later."

Ben watched her go down the tunnel, but my eyes were glued on Pidgeot. I walked slowly towards her. I had a strange feeling about her…

Pidgeot cocked her head, and then began to glow. She shrank, using Transform. Ben watched in awe behind me. And suddenly we were no longer facing a Pidgeot, but Mew.

Ben gasped.

"Mew!" I cried happily.

Mew giggled and did a flip.

"Thanks for helping us, Mew! I don't know what we would have done without you!"

Mew floated up to me, sniffing.

I laughed. "Oh, are you looking for another apple? Hang on. I think I have something in my backpack."

I swung my backpack off and fished around in it. I pulled out half of an apple left over from lunch and held it out to Mew. She grabbed it and started to eat it. As she did so, I pulled out my Pokédex and pointed it at her, asking for information.

The dex really wasn't too helpful. It told me that she was called Mew and that very little was known about it.

But I did snap a picture on my camera.

When Mew was done with her apple, she grabbed my sleeve and tugged me towards the exit.

Ben and I followed her out through the tunnels and we emerged into open air again.

Mew tugged at my sleeve again and pulled me along the base of the mountain until Ben and I reached a small cliff with a jut of rock protruding above us. Above us, there was a rainbow painted across the sky. And perched on the jut of rock was a Pokémon. A bird. It was huge and golden with a gleaming flowing tail. It was fast asleep.

I quickly pointed my camera at him and took a picture.

The click of the camera made the golden bird raise its head. It gazed down at Ben, Mew and I. For a moment, it sat there. Then raised its sparkling wings. In a flurry of feathers, it flew away into the rainbow.

Mew giggled and did one last flip before she too vanished.


	7. The Water Badge

OK, Since I always know I get confused about Pokémon nicknames when I read other stories, I should probably do a quick reminder at the beginnings of at least a few chapters.

Polaris= Ponyta, Pooka=Pikachu, Charren=Charmander, Karren=Caterpie, Welly=Poliwag, and Leviathan=Gyarados.

The Water Badge

After that, nothing interesting happened until Ben and I reached Cerulean City. Not compared to what we'd been through. Well, I did catch a few new Pokémon like Paras and Ekans. Ben caught a Sandshrew too.

And of course Karren evolved into a Metapod! I hadn't been training with her too much. I wasn't in a hurry for her to evolve because I liked Caterpie so much. But now she was one step closer to being a Butterfree.

It was certainly a relief to step into Cerulean City. Hopefully nothing else crazy would happen for a while. It would be nice to have a rest. Until I challenged the next gym, at least.

We all went to the Pokémon Center and healed our tired Pokémon. Leviathan and Pooka definitely needed it.

While we were waiting, I called Professor Oak and told him about Team Rocket.

After our Pokémon were refreshed and happy, Ben and I went to look around town.

After a while, we came upon another pond. We always liked to stop near water to give our water Pokémon a chance to swim. And I wanted to get a good look at my new Gyarados. There had been so much going on when he evolved that I didn't really get to look at him.

As all of our Pokémon played on the banks of the pond, I watched my huge Gyarados explore. He was getting used to his new body.

The rest of the Pokémon eyed Leviathan nervously. I suppose he did look rather frightening to any Pokémon as small as them.

Karren, my new Metapod, sat on the grass besides me. She couldn't really do anything besides sit there since she didn't have arms or legs. At least she got to sit on the grass and see her friends.

"You know," I said, looking at Ben's Squirtle, "I'd really like to catch a Squirtle. And a Bulbasaur too."

"Well, you could ask Professor Oak where to catch one."

"That's a good idea. I've heard that they're pretty rare though."

Ben shrugged. "Well, you got your Charmander, right?"

"That's true. And I love my Charmander!"

"So, are we challenging the Cerulean Gym tomorrow?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I guess we should train for the rest of the day, and tomorrow morning too. We got quite a bit of training in Mount Moon, huh?"

"No kidding!" Ben snorted. "Fighting Team Rocket like that. Plus we kind of took it more slowly this time and trained on the road, unlike our way through Viridian Forest."

"It works better that way," I admitted. "Giving our Pokémon different terrains to train on."

"Who are you gonna use tomorrow?"

"I guess Pooka, Welly, and Leviathan. Welly and Leviathan will get to battle in the big pool they have at the gym. It'll be interesting for them. I bet I know ho you're gonna use."

"Yep. Squirtle, Pidgey, and Nidoran. My three favorites."

"I still want a Squirtle," I sighed. "Maybe I'll just steal yours when you're not looking."

Ben's Squirtle was running by, playing tag with Charren. I caught Squirtle as he passed and tickled his tummy. Squirtle laughed and squirmed free.

Then Leviathan swung his huge head around out of the water and stuck it right in front of me. Ben jumped and flinched back a bit.

Leviathan let out a little growl, and turned to look at Squirtle, who shivered under the stare of the serpent.

I blinked, not sure what Leviathan was doing. Then he turned and sank back into the water.

"Oy, that was kinda creepy," Ben muttered. "Your Gyarados looked like it wanted to eat my Squirtle."

I shook my head. "He wouldn't do that!"

"You don't seem to understand that Gyarados aren't always that nice. Even if your other Pokémon are."

"Ben, he evolved to save us! And he did a great job!"

"Mm," Ben muttered, not sounding convinced.

Suddenly Leviathan's head exploded out of the pond and water showered down over us.

Without a doubt, my Gyarados had something in his mouth. It looked like…

"Squirtle!" Ben shouted in a panic.

Then he paused and turned to see his own Squirtle huddled behind him.

Then what was in Leviathan's mouth?

Leviathan swung his head and cast the withdrawn Squirtle towards us. The Squirtle (huddled inside its shell) bounced off of the grassy ground and landed practically right at my feet.

I couldn't believe it! Leviathan had caught a Squirtle? Had he been listening to me say that I wanted a Squirtle? And he found one in the pond!

The moment the wild Squirtle realized that it was free of Leviathan's teeth, it popped out of its shell and turned to face us, angry at being disturbed in such a way.

And I couldn't really blame it when it attacked.

And it attacked the closest Pokémon. The only one who hadn't moved at all since we arrived at the pond: Metapod.

Squirtle charged forwards towards Karren before I had time to snatch her out of the way. Squirtle's Head But sent Karren flying.

I dove and caught her before she hit the ground.

Squirtle turned to flee back into the pond, but came face to face with Leviathan. Squirtle squealed in fright and scampered back towards us. Pooka jumped in front of him, sparking angrily.

Squirtle looked around and saw that all of my Pokémon had surrounded him. He growled angrily and sent out Bubble, knocking Pooka backwards.

Squirtle rushed towards Pooka again, and Pooka hadn't recovered from the previous attack.

Suddenly Karren wriggled out of my arms and bounced straight at Squirtle, landing on his head!

Squirtle staggered back, and Pooka took the opportunity to use Thundershock.

I immediately pulled out a Pokéball and Squirtle vanished inside. I caught it!

Squirtle's Pokéball was automatically sent to Professor Oak. Well, I'd have to get him later. I wanted to spend some time with my new Squirtle.

But the day's surprises weren't over yet.

Karrens shell split open and light began pouring from the gap. I gasped and watched, amazed, as a glowing form emerged from the cocoon.

Butterfree burst into the air, crying happily to fly free at last.

Butterfree circled overhead crying "free freeeee!"

I laughed happily. What a day! Squirtle and Butterfree!

We headed back to the Pokémon center with Karren flying overhead, spinning and looping in fancy circles, happy to be in the air.

"I'm gonna name him Hurrico," I said, a bounce in my step.

"What? Oh, you mean your Squirtle."

"Yep. I'm gonna have Professor Oak send him to me when we get to the Center. I think I'll swap Welly for him. I don't need three water Pokémon on my team."

We got to the Pokémon center and I got my new Squirtle.

And then we all headed out and started training.

By the next day, I was relatively confident. And we were headed to the next gym.

It was a very flowery gym. The arena was a large pool. The three leaders (sisters) seemed more like actresses than trainers. I'd have to have a three on three battle, with each of them-Daisy, Lily, and Violet- sending out one Pokémon each. They looked about Brock's age. They also had a little sister named Misty who was Ash's age. She sat on the side and watched our battle.

Actually, I was rather disappointed in the Cerulean Gym leaders. They seemed more concerned about looks than battling.

But either way, the battle was on. Let's get that second gym badge!

I sent out Pooka first. He'd have a major advantage.

Daisy's Pokémon was a Seel.

Seel launched out of the water and came at Pooka with the spike on its forehead. Pooka jumped up and came down, landing on Seel's head. He wrapped his arms and clung tightly to Seel's neck.

"Thundershock!" I shouted.

But before Pooka could act, Seel dove into the water and sank to the bottom. And Pooka was still holding on. He couldn't hold on, because Seel would be able to hold his breath a lot longer than a Pikachu.

Pooka knew this too. He let go and began kicking towards the surface.

But Seel was after him, his horn about to make contact.

Pooka was running out of breath. Would he make it to the surface before Seel struck?

Then Seel put on a burst of speed and rammed into Pooka. Pooka went flying out of the water and landed heavily on the pool deck. He didn't move.

For a moment I stood there, stunned. Pooka was beaten by a water Pokémon?

I returned him. I'd underestimated our opponent. Even though we had a type advantage, Seel had been in his element. Pooka couldn't do too much underwater. He hadn't even gotten a chance to attack.

Well, now I'd choose a Pokémon who was at home in the water.

"Hurrico!"

I threw out my new Squirtle, who landed on the deck and glanced around.

"Cara!" Ben hissed from the stands. "What are you doing? You just caught that Squirtle!"

I ignored him. Squirtle turned and winked one of his blue eyes at me. I noticed for the first time that he had a little gray spot in the very middle of his shell.

Before I got a chance to say anything, Hurrico leapt forwards into the water and used Tackle, knocking Seel into the wall of the pool. Before Seel could recover, Squirtle used Bubble. Seel floated to the top, beaten.

I blinked in surprise. That was fast.

Hurrico gave me a thumbs-up as he floated in the pool. I smiled and gave him the thumbs up back.

Then Lily sent out Horsea. For a moment, Horsea and Squirtle stared at each other. Then as Squirtle charged, Horsea used Smokescreen and filled the water with inky black so that it was impossible for Hurrico to see anything.

"Hurrico, get out of there!" I shouted.

A moment later, both Hurrico and Horsea's heads popped out of the water. Both of them attacked at the same time, using Bubble. The two Bubbles collided and cancelled each other out. Hurrico jumped out of the water before Horsea could dive down and attack from the dark cloud below.

Horsea shot a Water Gun, but Hurrico dodged. And then he turned and ran back at Horsea and jumped back into the water, landing on Horsea. Both of them vanished underwater.

For almost a minute, no one saw anything except for an occasional bubble bursting at the surface. Then, at long last, Horsea floated to the surface. Hurrico had won. He appeared a moment later, grinning, and he winked at me again.

As Violet selected her Pokémon, the Smokescreen cleared for the water and Squirtle could see again.

Then Violet sent out Goldeen.

Goldeen rushed forwards with Horn Attack, but Hurrico grabbed onto Goldeen's horn and clung onto her head.

Goldeen flailed around in the water, trying to throw Squirtle off, but he held on.

Then Goldeen rushed forwards and slammed Hurrico against the wall and rammed him with her horn. Hurrico cried out and floated limp in the water.

I returned him. Well, this was it. We were each down to one Pokémon. Hurrico had done very well for his first real battle.

I sent out Leviathan.

The three gym leaders gasped as the massive serpent appeared in their pool.

Goldeen cowered for a moment at the sight of so large an opponent, but quickly charged forwards with her horn.

Leviathan gave an almost casual flick of his tail and sent Goldeen flying out of the water. She flopped uselessly on the ground as Gyarados pulled himself out of the water and grabbed Goldeen in his mouth and threw her. She bounced off of the ground and landed in the pool, defeated.

"Yes!" I shouted. I ran up to Gyarados, who lowered his head and let me hug him. "You did it! Great job!"

"Wow, you did a great job training that Gyarados," Lily said.

"Yeah. Usually they're, like, really violent and bad-tempered," Daisy added.

"But yours seems to like you," Violet said, stepping forwards and handing me the blue drop-shaped gym badge.

I smiled and took the badge, looking up at Leviathan as I did so. Gyarados were supposed to be violent? But he was so nice!

As if to prove my point, he bared his teeth in a grin. But the Cerulean sisters only backed away slightly.

"Thanks," I said, pinning my Cascade badge next to my Boulder badge.

Ben slapped me a high-five, grinning broadly. And then he stepped up for his turn at a battle.

His Squirtle easily defeated Shellder, and his Pidgey and Nidoran finished off Tentacool. But Staryu defeated both Pidgey and Nidoran, so he had to send out Squirtle again. And during the last heated battle, his Squirtle evolved into a Wartortle!

With new badges in both of our pockets, we returned to the Pokémon Center. We called out parents and Professor Oak. And at his suggestion, we set off to meet Bill, the designer of the Pokémon transporter system.


	8. Venusaur's Garden

Sorry it took me so long. First of all, school started so life in general has been crazy. And for the past 2 days, fanfic hasn't let me upload my document. Sigh.

Polaris= Ponyta, Pooka=Pikachu, Charren=Charmander, Karren=Butterfree, Hurrico=Squirtle, Leviathan=Gyarados and Welly=Poliwag.

Venusaur's Garden

"All right! Now, finish it off with Ember!"

Polaris blasted fire at Raichu, and our opponent finally fell down, beaten. Polaris was barely standing. It had been the hardest of our Gym Battles yet, against Lieutenant Surge. Polaris against Raichu. But at long last we had our next badge.

We started on towards the next destination: Lavender Town. There wasn't a gym there, but I'd heard that it was a good place to catch ghost Pokémon. They were one of the few types that was good against psychic Pokémon. And we'd be fighting a psychic gym leader sometime soon.

Ben and I rode Polaris down the path towards the tunnel that led to Lavender Town.

My thoughts were elsewhere.

"I wonder if we'll ever meet Mew again."

Ben laughed. "You and your Mew. You should be lucky that you got to meet her at all."

"Yeah, I suppose. Though our meetings have been rather short.

"And she showed you that strange bird," Ben pointed out. "The golden one that was sleeping near Mount Moon. I wonder what that was."

"Yeah, me too. The Pokédex couldn't tell us about it."

"It wasn't Articuno, Zapdos, or Moltres, was it?" Ben asked.

I shook my head. "I've seen pictures of them. Moltres is a similar color, but it's covered in flames. That bird didn't have lames on it.

Something red flashed past us. We both turned. It was a Vulpix, trotting along the side of the road.

"A Vulpix!" I gasped.

Ben shrugged. "All yours. I'd rather get a Growlithe myself."

I didn't have a Vulpix yet, and they were one of my favorites. I jumped off of Polaris, but Vulpix spooked and dashed into the bushes.

I sped after him, pulling out Pooka's Pokéball in the process.

It wouldn't be easy to find Vulpix in these bushes.

I heard Polaris and Ben coming after me, slowed down by the vines. Polaris couldn't go through dense forests as fast as I could.

Suddenly I found myself in the open. I blinked in surprise and slowed down a bit. I was facing a large open space. At the far end of the blank spot, the forest continued again.

And then I realized with a jolt that the reason there were no trees here was because there was a small circular valley in front of me. And I was at the very top of the cliff. I pin-wheeled my arms frantically, trying to regain my balance, but I was too far over the edge.

I saw from the corner of my eye the Vulpix. It stared at me, alarmed to see me falling over the cliff.

There was one horrible moment where my feet were tipped half over the edge of the cliff with my body leaning over the drop. Pooka grabbed the leg of my pants, and Vulpix rushed forwards to stabilize Pooka.

But they weren't strong enough. And I tipped over the edge of the cliff with Pooka and Vulpix still holding onto my leg.

I automatically reached for Karren's Pokéball. Even if she wasn't strong enough to carry me, she could at least slow the fall.

But before I could even open the Pokéball, we hit the valley floor… and bounced.

I blinked and looked around in surprise. I was sitting on a thick carpet of springy moss. It was so thick and springy that it was as though I had landed on a trampoline. I wasn't hurt in the least.

Pooka and Vulpix were fine too. They automatically huddled against me, startled at what had just happened.

I looked back up the cliff. It was twenty feet high. Well, we'd have a touch time trying to get out.

I turned and gazed around the bottom of the small round valley.

It was a garden!

Lush, dark green plants with flowers of every color grew thickly around us.

And dotted between the bushes were strange flower buds the size of my head. They were growing straight out of the ground, and all of them were pink. And in the very center of the small garden was a huge pink flower that was as far across as I was tall.

I looked down and the two Pokemon huddled together on my lap. I smiled.

"Hey, it's ok. See? It's safe. We didn't get hurt at all."

Vulpix looked up and blinked around.

"You ok, Vulpix?" I asked.

Vulpix looked up at me and smiled. "Vul!"

"That's good."

"Cara!"

"Vulpix, Pooka, and I all looked up to the top of the cliff. Ben and Polaris were staring down at me, concerned.

I waved up to them.

Once Ben saw I was okay, the concerned look vanished.

"You idiot!" he shouted. "This is what you get for…" he cast around for words that described my crime, "_blundering_ on after Pokémon like this! You're lucky you didn't break your neck! How do you plan to get out of there?"

I grinned. "I can't help it! I see a new Pokémon and I gotta catch it! Besides, we're fine. And I think Leviathan is tall enough to lift us out."

Ben sighed and shook his head. "You're crazy."

"Come on down here! It's pretty! There's a garden! And the landing is really soft so you don't get hurt a bit."

"You expect me to jump off a cliff to follow one of your crazy whims?"

"But you got to admit, my crazy whims have gotten us to some pretty cool places."

Ben groaned and rolled his eyes. But he jumped down after me and bounced lightly on the moss. Though he landed rather awkwardly in a tangle of arms and legs.

I reached for Polaris's Pokéball and returned her.

Ben stood and rubbed his back where he'd landed.

"Ok, so why did I come down here again?"

I stood up with Pooka and Vulpix close at my heels.

"Let's look at the garden," I suggested.

"It's pretty. But why's it so special?" Ben sighed.

He blinked and looked harder at the plants. "Hey, what are those big pink buds on the ground?"

I shrugged. "I guess just some strange type of flower."

"But they're _moving._"

"What?"

"The flowers are moving."

I stared at Ben for a moment, and then turned and looked. The pink buds were indeed moving. They were slowly shifting in our direction, sliding beneath and around the bushes. And the huge pink flower in the center of the garden was moving too.

And then I understood. They weren't flowers. They were Ivysaur! The whole garden floor was full of them! And that giant flower in the middle of the valley was a Venusaur! And all of them were coming towards us.

Ben noticed it about the same time as I did.

"They don't look too happy to have visitors," he whispered.

He was right. The Ivysaur were all glaring at us as they advanced.

Without thinking, I stepped towards them.

"Don't be mad at us," I called. "We didn't mean to trespass in your garden. We didn't know that you all lived here. We promise not to bother any of you. We were just admiring the plants."

The Ivysaur stopped. But I don't think it was because of me. They stopped and they parted to make way for Venusaur, who slowly ambled up to us. He stopped just a couple feet in front of me.

Pooka leapt up onto my shoulder and started speaking to Venusaur in Pokémon talk.

"Pika! Pikachu1 Chu chu, Pikachu!"

"Saur!" Venusaur bellowed, stomping a huge foot on the mossy ground.

Just then, a small green shape shoved its way thought the Ivysaur and walked straight up to Pooka. It was a Bulbasaur.

Pooka and Bulbasaur started talking in Pokémon talk. Everyone watched them. Then Bulbasaur shuffled up to me and sniffed my feet and ankles. Vulpix crouched behind my legs. She let out a little growl as Bulbasaur started to come too close to her.

Bulbasaur took a step back from Vulpix and looked up at me, grinning.

"Bulba!" she said.

Venusaur cut back in. He pointed one of his fines up to the cliff where we'd fallen in. He wanted us to leave.

I blinked. "We'll leave, I guess. But we have to find an easy way out. Can we look around to find the shortest part of the cliff?"

Venusaur thought for a moment and then slowly nodded. He and the Ivysaur stepped back a ways, still keeping a wary eye on me.

"Well, let's get out of here," I told Ben, Pooka and Vulpix. I picked up Vulpix, who let me hold him in my arms. I didn't want the fire type spooking the grass Pokémon. Vulpix actually climbed up on my shoulder and flopped around my neck like a scarf. I smiled and we headed to the edge of the valley. The lone Bulbasaur followed us.

I paused so the Bulbasaur could walk alongside us instead of behind us. I was glad she liked our company.

I glanced back to see some of the Ivysaur curled under the dew-dusted bushes, dozing in the afternoon sun. Their bright pink buds were the only part of them that stood out against the moss, which is why we didn't recognize them for Pokémon right away.

"They Ivysaur and Venusaur must be the caretakers of the garden," I whispered.

Ben nodded. "And they protect it from outsiders too."

Venusaur and some of the Ivysaur still watched us, making sure we behaved.

We walked around the perimeter of the cliff, trying to find the lowest spot.

When we had gone most of the way around the valley, Ben stopped me.

He nodded up to the top of the cliff. I followed his gaze.

There was a Primeape up there. It was swinging from branch to branch right along the edge of the small canyon.

But then he leapt to a half-rotten branch that snapped under his weight. And he tumbled down into the garden.

Instantly all of the Ivysaur were on their feet. They all swarmed around Primeape, growling threateningly. They clearly wanted him to leave.

Primeape growled, but looked like he was about to climb out of the cliff since he was outnumbered.

But before he could begin climbing, one of the impatient young Ivysaur sent out Razor Leaf at the Primeape.

Primeape whirled on his opponents, enraged at the attack. He balled up his fists and charged, plowing through the Ivysaur and knocking them in every direction. He ripped straight through one of the bushes and turned to make another pass at the Ivysaur.

Venusaur thundered towards Primeape, roaring in anger. He sent out Razor Leaf, but Primeape leapt out of the way.

Vulpix and Pooka leapt forwards, ready to fight. Both of them attacked, but Primeape had gone into Rage. If we hurt him, he'd only get stronger. We'd have to find another way to stop him.

Pooka and Vulpix dodged out of Primeape's way as he charged again.

Then something nudged the back of my leg. Bulbasaur.

"Bulbasaur!" I cried. "If we can slow the Primeape down, can you use your vines to pin his arms to his sides?"

Bulbasaur grinned and nodded.

Primeape ripped up another bush, but Vulpix and Pooka charged again. The two jumped on their opponent, and the moment he was distracted, Bulbasaur reached out with Vine Whip and wrapped the vines around Primeape's arms, lifting him off the ground.

Primeape struggled, but Venusaur reached his own vines forwards and took the Primeape from Bulbasaur. He then hurled Primeape up out of the valley and over the trees. I doubted whether he'd be back in a hurry.

Venusaur turned to us and nodded in appreciation. All of the Ivysaur cheered. They were thanking us for protecting the garden.

"You're welcome," I said, smiling. "But Bulbasaur helped a lot too." I reached down to pet the Bulbasaur and Vulpix. The two of them smiled.

"You'll be able to fix the plants that Primeape damaged, right?" Ben asked.

Venusaur nodded.

I nodded. "Well, I guess we'll be going then. We still need to find a way out. I guess we could use my Gyarados…"

Venusaur fidgeted as he heard me mention Gyarados. He probably assumed that Gyarados might damage the garden even more. I was learning that Gyarados had a very bad reputation. Even among other Pokémon.

Venusaur pulled out a few of his vines and waved them at us. He was offering to lift us out of the garden.

We headed to the part of the cliff where we had entered the garden. We paused at the bottom and I turned to Vulpix. "Would you like to come with us on our journey?" I asked.

Vulpix smiled and nodded.

"That's great!"

Then something tugged on my sleeve. It was Bulbasaur, using her vine to get my attention.

"Bulba!"

"So you want to come with us too, huh?"

Bulbasaur nodded.

I turned to Venusaur. "Can we take Bulbasaur? We'll take good care of her. I promise. I think she wants to get out and see the world."

Venusaur shook his head.

"How come?"

Venusaur started gesturing with his vines and speaking Pokémon talk. It seemed like he was saying, "Bulbasaur was born here and this is her home and family. She must help to care for the garden."

Then Bulbasaur stepped forwards and started pleading with Venusaur. When she was done, the huge Pokémon was silent for a moment. Then he slowly nodded. Bulbasaur could come with us.

"Thanks!" I shouted. I picked up Bulbasaur and Vulpix and hugged them.

Then Venusaur used his vines to lift Ben, the Pokémon and I to the top of the cliff.

I'd already come up with names for my two new Pokémon. Vulpix was Pexle. And Bulbasaur was Blossom.

We took one last look at the garden, and then turned back to the path that led to Rock Tunnel and Lavender Town.


	9. Ghosts

Whoo! Sorry it took me so long to update! School has been trying to murder me. Stupid teachers make all the projects due at once… Well, anyway, here it is at last.

Polaris=Ponyta, Charren=Charmander, Pooka=Pikachu, Hurrico=Squirtle, Leviathan=Gyarados, Blossom=Bulbasaur, Pexle=Vulpix

Ghosts

Ben and I battled our way through Rock Tunnel, and by the time we arrived in Lavender town, the two of us were completely exhausted. We were covered in dirt and our Pokémon had fought through many battles.

But our battles were well worth it. Charren had evolved and now I had a Charmeleon on my team. Ben's Nidoran had evolved also, into a Nidorino.

I planned to get Pexle on my team for a little while to try out my new Pokémon. But I also had Charren and Polaris, two other fire Pokémon. I needed to find a way to balance my team. I had a lot of fire and water types.

All of us practically collapsed on the couches at the Pokémon Center. Nurse Joy took care of our Pokémon as Ben and I rested.

After a while, an Officer Jenny walked into the Center. She started talking with Nurse Joy.

At first I didn't pay much attention to this conversation. But after a minute, I started to take interest.

"…And no one can get in to visit their Pokémon's graves anymore," Officer Jenny said, sounding upset.

"That's strange," Nurse Joy agreed. "I wonder why that would be. I always knew that there were ghosts there, but they've never gone out of their way to attack anyone before.

"Excuse me," I said, standing and walking over to them, "but what are you talking about?"

"You're not from around here, are you?" Nurse Joy asked.

I shook my head, and Ben, behind me, did the same.

"Well, Lavender Town is home to the Pokémon Tower," Officer Jenny explained. "It's the cemetery where people bury their Pokémon. So, naturally, there are ghost Pokémon there. Most of the time they're invisible and they usually keep to themselves. But a few days ago, the ghost Pokémon started attacking anyone who tried to enter. So no one can get in to visit the graves of their Pokémon anymore."

"Ghost Pokémon?" Ben repeated.

Nurse Joy nodded. "Yes. Mainly Gastly and Haunter. They're known to play tricks, but these ones never left the top few levels of the tower. Everyone here knows not to go up there because it disturbs the ghosts."

"Do you think someone went up there and bothered the ghosts?" I asked.

"We can't get in to be sure," Officer Jenny sighed. "For now, you should stay away from there. An expert will be coming in shortly to find out what's going on."

Ben and I exchanged glances. Ben rolled his eyes. He knew I wanted to go there and see for myself.

Once we got our Pokémon back, Ben and I headed off to the tower. It was starting to get dark out, and I was feeling a bit creeped out. Ghost Pokémon come out more at night, don't they?

"Leave it to you," Ben groaned. "Go into a haunted building at night."

Pexle and Nidorino walked along besides us, ready for action.

As we approached the edge of town, the dark Pokémon Tower loomed above us. I gave a little shiver. It looked so creepy!

"Hey, I got these from a catalogue," Ben said, taking out a pair of goggles. "It's called a Silph Scope. It lets you see ghost Pokémon when they're invisible."

"Oh, great. So, you be our eyes, huh? You should put them on now since we're near the tower. There might be ghosts out here too."

Ben, Nidorino, Pexle and I all stepped closer to the tower. It was cold and completely dark by now, but I wasn't shivering just from the cold.

"Why couldn't we have waited until morning," Ben groaned as Nidorino hung close to his heels, looking nervous. Pexle was in the same state.

And then we stepped inside. It was very dark. Ben and I flicked our flashlights on and pointed them around to see our surroundings.

The first floor was covered with the tombstones of Pokémon. There were pathways between the graves so that people could move between them and visit their departed Pokémon without stepping over the graves. Across the room from us was a staircase. There were seven levels to the tower.

"It's creepy," Ben muttered. "To bury Pokémon in a tower instead of in the earth. Think about it… they're buried above us and beneath us…"

"Shut up!" I hissed. "I don't need to hear anything like that when we're in here in the dark!"

Ben glanced around gravely. "I wonder how Pokémon die. They don't die during a battle. They just faint."

"Luckily," I murmured. We were pacing along one of the isles towards the staircase. "Probably like humans. If they get hurt too badly, or when they just get really old…"

Suddenly Nidorino squealed in terror. We whipped around and found him hovering a few feet in the air, thrashing wildly.

Ben snapped his goggles on in an instant.

"Two Gastly!" He shouted.

"Pexle," I commanded, "use Ember just above Nidorino!"

Pexle sent out flames that singed the air above Ben's Pokémon. There were two frightened cries, and suddenly the two Gastly appeared before us. They dropped Nidorino, who landed in a heap on the ground. He scrambled to his feet and turned angrily to face the two Gastly.

The Gastly flinched and huddled towards the back of the room. They didn't want to fight.

"What do you want?" I demanded. "There's no reason to go around causing trouble if you don't even want to battle for it! And why are you down here anyway? I thought you lived up at the top level of the Tower."

One of the Gastly glided up to me, looking nervous. He took a tendril of his foggy body and pointed it up at the ceiling.

I glanced at them to make sure they weren't trying to distract me, and then looked up.

"What is it? You mean that something's wrong on one of the upper levels?"

The Gastly before me nodded.

"Did something chase you out of your home?" I wondered how I knew that.

Again the Gastly nodded.

Suddenly Pexle growled and whirled around to face the front door.

Ben and I turned and the Gastly huddled behind us for protection.

There was a man standing in the doorway. He had red hair and wore a cape. There was a Dratini at his side.

"You shouldn't be in here," the man said. "It's dangerous. Leave now."

"We were trying to figure out why the ghost Pokémon were attacking people," Ben said.

"Whatever your reason, this tower is dangerous. You should leave. I'll handle things."

"But the Gastly say that something chased them out of their homes on the upper levels of the tower," I explained. I didn't know what authority this man had to order us around, but I didn't like being told what to do by someone I didn't know.

"I know that. That's why I'm here," said the red-haired man. He stepped into the tower, closer to us. The Dratini followed. A Dratini, huh? He must be someone important if he has such a rare Pokémon. So, whoever he was, he was good with Pokémon.

"Well, what is it then?" I demanded. "What's making the Gastly leave their home?" I glanced back at the two Gastly, noting their anxious expressions. Whatever was happening had them genuinely worried. Not much could intimidate ghost Pokémon.

The Gastly who had spoken to me earlier looked at me pleadingly. He wanted me to help.

The man looked at us for a moment and noticed the determined expression on my face. He smiled.

"You're Pokémon trainers, are you?"

We nodded.

"Well, have you heard of Team Rocket?"

"Yes. They attacked us in Mount Moon. But we escaped."

"They're scum bags," Ben added.

The man laughed. "Well, that's definitely true. But either way, they're above us now, so keep your voices down, please."

"What do they want with a Pokémon cemetery?" I asked, curious now.

The man sighed. "I appreciate your concern. But I can't let kids get hurt. It's dangerous here. You two need to leave," he repeated.

I faced him down stubbornly. "We want to help. You're gonna need the help of the ghost Pokémon here, and for that, you'll need us. Right?"

My Gastly played along with me and nodded. They were willing to do as I said if it meant protecting their home.

Ben rolled his eyes slightly at my nerve in front of this strange man.

He paused for a moment and then laughed again. "I see you're not to be put off. What are your names?

"Cara."

"Ben."

"So, Cara and Ben, are you good with your Pokémon?"

I pulled out my case of gym badges and showed it to him. Ben did the same.

"Ah. On your way to the Pokémon League, are you? Well, You can come with me because I might need your ghost friends to help. But you need to do as I say if this proves dangerous. I can't let you get hurt. By the way, my name's Lance."

Lance. I'd heard that name before.

"Gastly," I said, turning to them, "If we're gonna help you, you'll need to help us too. Tell the other ghosts here that we're here to help and that we might need their help too."

The two Gastly nodded and they vanished.

"All right," Lance said. "Let me go first. Be on the alert."

He stepped towards the stairs and Ben and I followed with Pexle and Nidorino at our heels. The Dratini draped itself around Lance's neck.

We crept up the first flight of stairs and saw a sentry standing next to the next set of stairs.

Dratini slid into the shadows and crept up on him. Then she used Thunder Wave and paralyzed the guard. He collapsed and Lance swiftly bound and gagged him.

There was another guard on each of the next three floors. They all met the same fate as the first. And as we reached the fifth floor, the two Gastly rejoined us.

On the sixth floor, there were two guards. The Gastly snuck up and used Hypnosis to put them to sleep.

The next floor was the top level.

We peaked over the top of the stairs to see what we were up against. There were several men in black uniforms with a red R on the fronts of their shirts. Team Rocket. One of the men was in a black suit. He looked important.

There were some computers set up against the back wall. Some of the graves on this level looked as though they had partially been dug up.

Lance gestured for us to go back down the stairs to the sixth floor. Once we were away from Team Rocket, he began speaking in whispers.

"That man in the suit is the leader of Team Rocket, and a powerful trainer. Very powerful indeed. It looks like they dug up some of the graves. It looks like the rumors were true. There are some rare Pokémon buried here, and Team Rocket is trying to research them."

"What Pokémon?"

Lance shook his head. "You two wait here. I'm going up. And stay hidden. I don't need you two getting caught."

Lance pulled the uniform off of one of the unconscious guards and discarded his cape. He returned his Dratini. Now disguised, he walked up the stairs and vanished from sight.

Ben and I shrank into the shadows behind a gravestone. Nidorino and Pexle huddled near us.

"That machinery," Ben whispered, "It's so complicated. I've never seen anything like that. The computer programs on that screen…"

"I wish we could get up there and see what's going on," I whispered.

"No!" Ben hissed. "I've put up with enough of your crazy ideas, but I won't let you crawl back up there! Lance at least has a disguise. And he's a senior trainer. Much more skilled than you."

Then the two Gastly made frightened sounds and vanished. Vulpix and Nidorino dove behind a different tombstone as a shadow loomed over us.

Ben and I looked up to see a man in a Team Rocket uniform over us.

"Intruders!" he shouted.

Before Ben and I could react, several more people in uniforms had thundered down the stairs and surrounded us. They tied our hands behind our backs and dragged us up the stairs. The four Pokémon remained hidden and safe.

We were on the top level again. I caught sight of Lance, looking upset at our capture. But a moment later, something else distracted me. The leader of Team Rocket walked up to us.

"What have we here," he muttered thoughtfully. "Two young Pokémon trainers?"

"They were hiding on the sixth level," said the Rocket man who'd caught us.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Lance press a few buttons on the computer. I hoped he was getting some use out of this unintentional distraction we'd provided.

"What would make you want to sneak past the guard?" Team Rocket's Leader demanded.

Lance raised his eyebrows at me. I knew we couldn't give him away.

"We wanted to see why the ghost Pokémon were acting up," I blurted. Well, it was true.

"Well, since you broke in, we can't very well let you walk out again." The leader of Team Rocket reached to his belt and drew out a Pokéball. "What do you think," he said, turning to his subordinates. "How should we treat our guests?"

Suddenly something grabbed me under the arms and lifted me into the air. I let out a squeal as I floated up to the ceiling. And beside me, the same thing had happened to Ben.

It was the Gastly! They had pulled us out of the way! And they cut through our ropes too!

Instantly, the air was full of Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar. They rushed the men and women of Team Rocket and piled on top of them. Pexle and Nidorino leapt up the stairs and joined the battle. Lance's Dratini was out of its Pokéball a moment later.

The two Gastly set Ben and I down at the edge of the battle.

For a moment, my eyes locked with his. He glared at me, and then sent out a Nidoking. It roared and smashed a hole in the window. He jumped onto the Nidoking's back, and the two of them were out of the window in an instant. They'd gotten away. Several other Rockets released Golbat and flew out of the window to safety, but five others fell to Lance and the ghosts.

All of the machinery was pretty much destroyed from the battle. Pexle had partially melted the computer and Nidorino had bashed up some of the graves with his horn. I winced. I hadn't meant for us to cause so much damage.

"Well," Lance sighed, stepping up to the fried computer, "It looks like all the data on this is pretty much destroyed. I guess we won't know what they were planning. Maybe I can salvage a bit of the data…"

"Aw… crud," I muttered. "That was our fault…"

"Well, at least we stopped them for now," Lance sighed. "But it looks like their leader got away. I think he'll always manage to slip out of the law's grasp. Let's see what they were working on, at least."

He knelt to examine the gravestones that had been dug up by team rocket. Several of them had been disturbed in the process, so it was hard to tell which one Team Rocket had been concentrating on.

"Did you find out what Pokémon they were interested in?" I asked.

Lance was silent for a moment. "It looks like there was an Eevee buried here. And a Ditto next to it. But here… was an Alakazam. These three graves. I can't tell which they were after. Maybe all of them."

"Do those three Pokémon have anything in common?" I asked.

"It doesn't seem like it," Ben muttered.

I nodded in agreement.

"Well, I'm glad your Gastly were able to help some," Lance said.

The rest of the ghosts had faded into the shadows, except for our two Gastly. I had a hunch that they were gonna stay with us.

"I'll tie up these guys that are unconscious and I'll get the police up here. Maybe we can get some of the data out of this computer and figure out what they were after. By the way, I can see that you're both pretty tough, but stay away from Team Rocket as much as possible. They're a dangerous group and you might not be so lucky next time."

I nodded. "I doubt I'd go looking for their company."

Lance nodded. "Good. Well, thank you both for your help. You should head home."

We nodded and headed back down the stairs with our two new Gastly.

But I couldn't get my thoughts off Team Rocket. I knew that we'd meet again.


	10. The Game Corner

So, my original version of this story didn't really have any plot. It was just mainly Cara going and doing stuff. So I'm adding more about Team Rocket so that this whole thing actually feels like it's _going _somewhere. Otherwise it's a bunch of random episodes. So I guess I'll build on the Mewtwo phenomenon for now just cause he'll show up in the somewhat distant future. I need to get Giovanni in here somewhere eventually cause Cara's got ta meet him.

Augh! I really hate computers sometimes! Mine just shut down and deleted at least a few pages of this chapter. So now I have to re-write them. GRRRRRR!!!! Curse the computer demons!!

Polaris-Ponyta, Hurrico-Squirtle, Blossom-Bulbasaur, Leviathan-Gyarados, Pooka-Pikachu, Charren-Charmeleon, etc.

The Game Corner

Well, here we were. Celadon City. We'd had to skip past Saffron City because the road was closed, so we decided to battle the Celadon Gym while we were waiting.

Ben caught a Growlithe just before we entered the city. I think he likes it a lot.

"Wow, Celadon is a lot bigger than the other cities we've been to so far," I muttered as Ben and I headed to the Pokémon Center.

"Saffron City's supposed to be even bigger," Ben noted.

"Phew. Well, I think it's safe to say that I'm not a city person. Let's heal our Pokémon and go train so we can challenge the gym tomorrow.

"Yeah. Good idea."

After we'd healed, Ben and I headed to the Celadon town square. We prepared to battle. Each of us glared dramatically at each other, trying to figure out what each of us would choose to battle with. And then at the same moment, we sent out our Pokémon.

Both of us laughed. Ben had sent out Wartortle, and I'd sent out my Squirtle.

"Copy Cat!" Ben shouted.

A few people gathered around to watch us fight.

"You're not going to use Wartortle in the gym match are you? Why are you training him?"

"Well, why are you training Squirtle?" Ben retorted.

I shrugged. "All right already. Let's get going."

Wartortle charged forwards, but Hurrico used Withdraw. Wartortle tripped over Squirtle's shell and landed on his belly. Hurrico jumped out of his shell and used Water Gun, sending his opponent sliding away on his stomach. Wartortle quickly used Rapid Spin, knocking Hurrico backwards onto his shell where he flailed helplessly.

"Withdraw!" I shouted. Hurrico pulled himself into his shell again as Wartortle charged forwards. Wartortle lifted Squirtle, ready to fling him against the ground. But at that moment, Squirtle snapped out his head and chomped down on Wartortle's arm. Wartortle cried out and dropped Squirtle, who landed on his feet. Squirtle spun around and kicked Wartortle's feet out from under him so that he fell back on his belly.

Then Hurrico began to glow. He was evolving! And a moment later, another Wartortle was standing there.

The small crowd cheered. Ben gave me the thumbs up.

The next day, we headed to the gym. It was like a giant indoor garden.

"You go first, Ben," I told him. "I always go first."

Ben nodded and stepped forwards to challenge Erika.

"Since both of you will challenge me," she said, "I'll do a one-on-one battle with each of you. Choose your Pokémon."

Ben sent out his Pidgey. Erika sent out Weepinbell.

"Sand Attack!" Ben shouted to his Pidgey. "Bury the arena in sand!"

Pidgey flapped his wings, kicking up sand that hung thick in the air.

"Good!' Ben cried. "Now fly over the sand and attack your opponent!"

Pidgey soared above his mini sandstorm and spotted Weepinbell engulfed in the dust below him.

Suddenly Pidgey began to glow. He too was evolving.

Ben's new Pidgeotto swooped down on Weepinbell and the two Pokémon vanished in the sand.

Erika tossed her hair, not looking too concerned for her Weepinbell. It looked like she had something planned.

"Don't think," she said lightly," that just because you have a type advantage that you'll win. And always take caution against shouting your battle plans out in front of your opponent like you just did."

As the sand settled, Ben gasped. His Pidgeotto was on the ground, fast asleep. As he'd flown down to attack Weepinbell, Erika's Pokémon had grabbed the bird and used Sleep Powder.

Ben had lost.

Ben returned his Pidgeotto, looking dejected.

"Aw. Good try, Ben," I sighed. "And your Pidgey just evolved too!"

"Your turn," Erika said to me, returning her Weepinbell.

I stepped forwards and sent out Polaris. Erika sent out Gloom. I'd heard about Gloom. They could release a stench so powerful that it could easily immobilize an opponent. We'd have to take care.

"Keep your distance Polaris!" I called. Polaris nodded.

"Gloom, use Poison Powder!" Erika said in a sing-song voice.

Gloom released a cloud of toxic spores from the flower on her head.

"Burn them out of the air, Polaris!" I shouted.

Polaris reared up and blasted out an attack that I'd only ever heard of: A bright tornado of flames that turned Poison Powder into embers. Polaris had just learned Fire Spin.

Gloom pressed herself against the gym wall and escaped the most of the heat from Fire Blast, but the falling cinders singed her a bit.

Gloom dove into the bushes on the battlefield.

"Burn some of those bushes out of the way!" I commanded.

Polaris used Ember, and several of the shrubs went up in a cloud of smoke. But something about that smoke… there was an odd shine to it.

Suddenly Polaris froze, head lowered, every muscle tensed up.

Then I understood. Gloom had used Stun Spore, which had been disguised by the smoke. Polaris was paralyzed.

"There's more to battling than brute strength," Erika informed me. "When your opponent relies on strength alone, it leaves plenty of openings for a Pokémon with a type disadvantage to get in there and win."

"Polaris, are you okay to battle some more?"

Polaris tried to shake herself off, and she stood a little straighter. She gave an affirmative whinny.

"Great. Let's keep at it! Were not through yet!" But I was concerned. She looked stiff from the Stun Spore, and I was afraid that is was causing her pain. She didn't want to give up though.

Erika shrugged. "A good trainer knows when to quit before they hurt their Pokémon too much."

"Well, it may be good to quit when you're ahead," I clenched my fist and raised my head to stare at Erika, "But quitters never win!"

Polaris stood where she was, rigid from Paralysis. Gloom started to charge forwards, knowing her opponent couldn't move because of the status condition.

Suddenly a massive explosion cut the air, making the entire gym rattle. Everyone in the gym staggered sideways and fell to the floor. Some of the windows shattered, spraying glass about.

Then the rumbling subsided. Everyone looked around, alarmed and confused. Then slowly they stood.

"What was that?" I muttered.

Ben walked up to stand behind me and helped pull me to my feet. Erika had stood and returned her Gloom.

"This match is postponed. As Gym Leader, it's my responsibility to see to the safety of the town."

She started running to the front door of the gym. I returned my paralyzed Ponyta and Ben and I followed Erika. The moment we were outside, we could easily see where the explosion had come from. A column of smoke was rising up from the earth not far from the gym. Erika stared at it for a moment, and then she ran towards it.

"Wait!" Ben shouted. "It could be dangerous!"

I ran after her and Ben followed.

"It's coming from the game corner," Erika shouted back to us.

We rounded a corner and saw flames flickering through one of the buildings.

"Do you have any water Pokémon?" Erika asked us. We skidded to a halt in front of the burning game corner.

I nodded and sent out Hurrico and Leviathan. Ben sent out his Wartortle.

"Put out the flames!" I shouted.

The two Wartortle blasted out water, but Leviathan sent out a river that extinguished the flames in less than a minute.

"Thank you," Erika said. "What could have caused such an explosion? I hope that no one was in there."

"Thanks, Gyarados," I said, returning him.

Erika approached the building and then stepped inside.

"Hang on!" Ben shouted again. "The building may be damaged! It could collapse!"

"She knows what she's doing. Let's go."

I followed with Hurrico at my heels.

"We were lucky," Erika told us as we followed her in. "The game corner was closed today, so no one was in here." She walked to the back of the room.

"But I see someone!" I exclaimed. "Look there!" Hurrico and I rushed towards a fallen game machine. Without a doubt, I could see a pair of legs protruding from under it.

Erika and Ben rushed up to me.

"Is he alive?" Ben muttered.

"Help me get this thing off him," I murmured, gripping onto the edge of the slot machine. Ben, Erika, and the two Wartortle joined me. Together we hefted the machine off of him and cast it to the side. The man moaned slightly and stirred. He was alive. Just unconscious. We all breathed a sigh of relief.

Just then, we heard footsteps and looked around. A few men had entered the building. Firemen. And Officer Jenny was with them.

"Erika, you're here," Officer Jenny exclaimed.

Erika nodded. "Yes. There's a survivor here. Quickly, get him out and make sure he's treated."

"Right away," one of the firemen said. They rushed forwards and carried him outside.

"Make sure no embers carried through the city," Erika ordered. "We don't need any more fires starting. I'll take a closer look around the building. You can help me after you make sure everyone else is safe."

Officer Jenny nodded and left the building.

Erika stood there for a moment, and then moved to the part of the building that was most damaged-the back corner.

"What's this? There's not supposed to be a doorway here. And this looks like where the explosion was."

In the back of the building, there was a hallway that looked as though a bomb had gone off inside it. The entrance had been ripped wide open. It looked like there was a concealed door that had hid it from the gamers, but it too was blown to bits.

Erika started into the hallway. "I wonder what this could have been."

"Look," I said, pointing to the wall of the hall. Wedged up in one of the jagged remains of the building was a round shape. An Electrode. It was knocked out.

"I bet it used Explosion," I muttered.

"But why?" Erika whispered.

"You say there's not supposed to be a room back here?" Ben asked, stepping cautiously further into the passage.

Erika shook her head. We followed him further into the strange tunnel. And after a minute, it opened up into a larger room.

"Look at this," I muttered. It looked like a laboratory. There were computers with cracked screens, books that were ripped to shreds, and class tanks that were shattered all over the place.

Erika started looking around, confused at how such a place ended up under the game corner.

Ben wandered over to the computers to see if he could log into them.

I hadn't moved. My eyes were locked on something on the floor at the edge of the demolished room. It was a page of data. There was a picture on it that looked very familiar. I slowly walked over to it and picked it up.

I stared at it, not daring to believe my eyes. It was a picture of Mew. Not a photograph, but a rough sketch. And there were notes written on it, though only some of them were still legible. I tried to make out what I could.

"…most powerful Pokémon on the earth. Said to be…"

"…has psychic powers that are capable o…"

"…more than an Alakaz…"

"Able to transform into any Pokémon much like Ditt…"

"Can master every single attack known by every Pok…"

"…said to be extinct, though few scattered sightin… though yet to be confirmed… capture of phantom po…on… may lead to… clone… super……. two……………… even than Mew…"

The end of the document was the worst. Most of the words were singed off. But I could make out one last detail. The bottom of the page was stamped with a large red R. This place belonged to Team Rocket.

The document told me most of what I needed. They were researching Mew. They weren't sure if Mew was actually extinct, but they were going to try to capture her if they could.

I didn't think they'd be able to though. Especially if they weren't even sure that she existed. Mew would be smart enough to elude them, right?

And there were two other Pokémon listed there-a Ditto and an Alakazam. Those were the Pokémon whose graves had been destroyed at the Pokémon tower. But there had been an Eevee too. Was that grave destroyed by accident, or was that part of the experiment too? Eevee had the ability to evolve into three different Pokémon, which may have some vague connection to Ditto using transform…

I slid the page into my pack as Erika walked in my direction. I felt bad for keeping the data from Erika. The police might need it. But I had a deep instinct that told me to keep that paper.

I glanced around again. My eyes fell on a doorway that was sealed shut. Maybe the people here had used that doorway to seal off their escape passage.

"I'm going to have to ask both of you to leave," Erika said to Ben and I. Ben had been unsuccessful in turning on the computers. They had been smashed. "We need to investigate this place more thoroughly. I'm sorry, but you'll need to do your gym battles later. Maybe return to the gym tomorrow."

Ben and I wanted to stay and help, but Officer Jenny and the firemen were starting to pour into the room. So Ben and I ducked out.

As we left the burnt building, we saw the man we had rescued. He'd woken up, and he was speaking to a police officer.

"… went in to repair a broken machine. I heard something strange coming from the back of the building. Behind one of the posters there was a switch so I pushed it. It led to a passage, but when I went to investigate, an Electrode rolled out of nowhere and blew up!"

Ben and I exchanged glances. We slowly headed back to the Pokémon Center.


	11. Sparring

Blossom-Bulbasaur, Leviathan=Gyarados, Charren=Charmeleon, Polaris=Ponyta

Sparring

The next day Ben and I returned to the Gym. Erika didn't tell us too much of what they had discovered at the game corner, but she did tell me what I already knew: Team Rocket was behind it. And they were researching something. She wouldn't tell me what though. I already knew, but I was curious to hear what she had to say about it. So either she didn't know, or she was keeping it secret. I wished her luck in figuring out the mystery of what Team Rocket wanted with Mew. I wished I could help, though a novice trainer probably wouldn't be too useful in such a project.

Ben and I tried again to get our Gym badges. I sent out Blossom so that I'd have a Pokémon who could inflict status conditions like Gloom. Bulbasaur and Gloom fought, and Blossom evolved into an Ivysaur! With my newly evolved Pokémon, we beat Gloom.

Ben used his Pidgeotto again, and this time he was able to defeat Weepinbell.

With out new badges, we doubled back to Saffron City. The path into the city was now open, so we could challenge Sabrina, the psychic master.

I stared in awe at the buildings. Ben was right. This was the biggest city so far.

"Cara," Ben said, "Did you know that there are two gyms in Saffron City?"

"Yeah, I've heard about that," I admitted. "But only one of them is an official Pokémon League Gym."

"Well, we should go to the other gym first to train. I've heard it's a fighting gym. It would be good to get some training in before Sabrina… cause I've heard that psychic Pokémon can be really hard to fight unless you got a ghost or a psychic type of your own."

I nodded. "But you got your Haunter."

"Yes, and I've been training my Haunter. But you haven't used your Gastly too much since you got it. I'm curious about that since you knew Sabrina's gym was coming up."

"I want to catch an Abra," I admitted.

Ben stopped and stared at me. "An Abra? But they're supposed to be really hard to find. And even harder to catch and even if you do catch one, they're really hard to control unless…"

"I know," I said, cutting him off. "But that's what everyone said about Gyarados. And look at Leviathan."

"Well, your Gyarados is obviously some strange friendly subspecies or something…"

I snorted. As if. "Is that right? Well, maybe I'll find some strange friendly subspecies of Abra too."

Ben started moving again and jogged to catch up with me. I hadn't stopped to wait for him.

"Well," I said pausing. We were in front of a building with an enormous banner proclaiming, "fighting dojo."

"I guess this is the place," I finished.

"No kidding," Ben muttered. "Let's go."

We strode in with Hurrico and Wartortle. We were met with an enormous arena with a fighting ring in the middle.

"Welcome!" boomed a voice from somewhere to our side.

Both Ben and I jumped, startled.

A big muscular man stepped out of the shadows, laughing. "Sorry! Didn't mean to spook you! What brings two your trainers such as you to a place like this?"

"We wanted to challenge the leader to a battle," I said.

The man laughed. "I should have known. Well, that would be me. My name is Bruce. And you have just challenged the master trainer of fighting Pokémon." His face suddenly grew stern. "We here believe that the Pokémon shouldn't be the ones to do all the work. Here all of us undergo every exercise our Pokémon undergo. We grow together. And if a person gets into trouble, they should be able to defend themselves with their own hands instead of relying on just their Pokémon." He brightened again. "So, I will accept your challenge if you agree to undergo a basic combat training along with a Pokémon of our choice."

Ben and I were left speechless for a moment.

Bruce smiled again. "Don't be intimidated. We're trying to teach trainers how to defend themselves. There will be instances throughout your journey where you may be required to protect yourselves and you simply can't reach your Pokéballs. If that happens, you need to know some basic self defense. What do you say?"

"That sounds cool!" I said.

Ben stared at me. I fought back a smile. He preferred his brain over his fists. He liked strategy over brute force. In that way, he was a really good training partner because he taught my Pokémon and I strategy, and I helped our Pokémon learn how to get stronger. Actually, Ben didn't enjoy battles as much as I did.

"I'd like to learn some fighting," I continued since Ben had remained silent.

Bruce laughed. "That's great! Most trainers would rather not learn. We've gotten used to being refused. But there is one rule about the Pokémon you can train with. It has to have hands. No four-footed creatures, because they'll need hands to do a lot of the stuff we teach."

Well, that meant I couldn't use Polaris.

Ben chose Wartortle. I sent out Charren.

So, it began. Bruce started us out with some basic punches.

"See, you want to hit with your inside two knuckles. And the back punch is more powerful because you have to turn slightly so your hips give the punch more power. And then there's the kicks. You have to chamber before the kick. That means bending your knee up. Then you do the extension, or the actual kick, then you bend your knee back down again and step down."

I didn't really understand what he was saying, but I got along tolerably well by watching and copying him.

Ben and I leaned back on one leg to try a front kick. Ben kicked out too hard and his other foot flew out from under him. He landed heavily on his back.

I doubled over, laughing so hard that I almost fell over too.

Ben stood up, scowling and rubbing his back. He slugged me in the arm. I rubbed my shoulder, still trying to breathe normally and finding it very difficult.

"I hope you didn't hurt your back," I said, but since I was still trying not to laugh, this didn't sound very concerned.

Once we calmed down, Bruce taught us several other defense moves, including how to throw a person who was coming up behind you, and how to fall if you yourself were thrown.

Ben, Wartortle, Charren and I were hot and exhausted when our lesson ended. Bruce had us all sit down in a corner and drink a lot of water as we watched a practice battle between a Machamp and Hitmonchan in the fighting arena.

"And if you want to learn any more, ask your fighting Pokémon. They'll know some tricks of their own."

When Wartortle and Charren were rested and the practice battle finished, Bruce walked over to the arena and we followed.

"All right," he said, taking two Pokéballs off of his belt. "We're going to try something different. And if you win, your reward will be a special belt that enhances the power of a fighting type Pokémon. Do either of you have fighting Pokémon?"

We nodded.

"Well, then you're all set. Now, rules of the battle. I'm going to fight both of you at once. I want both of you to send out the Pokémon that you've just been training to fight. And I'll send out two of my own Pokémon. It will be a two on two battle. Okay?"

We nodded, exchanging surprised glances. Two Pokémon in battle at once? That was new, and it would require different strategy than what we were used to working with.

Charren and Wartortle climbed into the arena as Bruce threw out his two Pokéballs. He had a Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee.

For several moments, our Pokémon stood there. Then Hitmonchan launched forwards. Charren and Wartortle dodged to the side. But Charren was immediately faced with Hitmonlee. Charren spat out an Ember, which Hitmonlee dodged. He twisted his leg back and kicked Charren against the edge of the arena.

Wartortle was faring no better. He had tried a Bubble, but Hitmonchan had blazed right through it and hit Wartortle with a Thunderpunch.

Wartortle cried out and fell backwards.

"This is no good!" Ben shouted. "They need to work together!"

"I have an idea!" I cried.

For some strange reason, I rarely had to shout commands to my Pokémon. They seemed to think along the same lines as me, so they usually did what I wanted without me saying anything. It was what happened during my first battle against the boys who were hurting Polaris. That's what I did now.

Charren and Wartortle jumped back to back so that they were defended from both sides. Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee advanced on them. Suddenly Hitmonchan launched forwards with a Fire punch. I'd seen the opponent's strategy. Hitmonchan would launch forwards with an attack as Hitmonlee ducked behind him to jump in once Hitmonchan had finished. Wartortle whirled around to face Hitmonchan and puffed out Bubble. Hitmonchan blocked it with his gloved fist and bore down on Wartortle, knowing that he had no time to prepare another attack. But just then, Wartortle bent forwards, linking his arms with Charren's. He flipped Charren upside down over his shell, and Charren blasted Flamethrower into Hitmonchan's face. Hitmonchan reeled back just as Hitmonlee closed in. As Charren was preparing her next attack, Wartortle went for Hitmonlee. He ducked inside his shell and spun at Hitmonlee's head with Rapid Spin. He bounced off Hitmonlee's head and then extended his fist from his shell, slamming his hand into Hitmonlee's head. Hitmonlee keeled over as Charren shoved herself towards the stunned Hitmonchan, smashing her fist into Hitmonchan's chest. Hitmonchan collapsed.

Bruce let out a deep booming laugh.

"That was fantastic! Each of you were able to cover the weaknesses of your friend and you put those punches to excellent use.

Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee slowly pushed themselves to their feet, looking dazed.

"Take the belt!" Bruce laughed again. He held out one belt to each of us. We took them and stowed them in our packs.

"Thanks," I said, patting Charren on the head.

"I think I need to work on some of this stuff," Ben muttered, rubbing his back where he'd fallen.

Bruce chortled. "Practice makes perfect! Good luck, you two."


	12. Thorny Path

Ah, I'll make a random note. I haven't been doing too many of them in this fanfic.

As I was writing the part about the thorny patch, I was remembering when something like that happened to me. My cousins had this little rocket thing they got and they launched it and it landed in a patch of blackberries. Of course. So we went in to try and find it. My cousins got pretty scratched up, but I didn't get hardly any scratches at all. Maybe blackberries like me. (They're delicious! We made some blackberry jelly… ah it's so good!)

Polaris-Ponyta, Pexle-Vulpix

Thorny Path

"Why can't you just use your Gastly," Ben moaned. "_Why _do you want to find an Abra so bad?"

I ignored the comment. I'd dragged Ben to the outskirts of Saffron City in search of an Abra. Ben wasn't too thrilled about it. He just wanted to train. I told him to wait behind, but he didn't want to do that either. Sigh.

"This is so stupid," Ben moaned. He was more complaining to himself than expecting me to listen to him. "We've been walking in circles around Saffron Coty all day and we haven't found an Abra yet. What makes you think you'll find one around here anyway? What if they just don't live around here? You can't go wandering around randomly expecting the Pokémon you want to fall into your lap. Besides, you caught a Drowzee. Isn't that psychic Pokémon good enough for this battle?"

"Drowzee aren't nearly as powerful as Abra," I replied. "Plus, I really want to catch an Abra. Since we haven't come across one yet, I thought I'd start looking now. And besides, Abra are one of the human-like Pokémon. They're more likely to be found around human settlements than the more animal-like Pokémon."

"Where on Earth did you hear something like that?" Ben asked blankly.

"Well, it makes sense, doesn't it?"

Ben smacked himself in the forehead. "It doesn't make sense at all. And besides, even if you do find an Abra, what makes you think you'll be able to use it in a gym match so soon after catching it? "

I shrugged. "If you promise to shut up about it, I promise to spend only one day looking for an Abra around here."

"You're gonna spend all day looking?" Ben sighed. "Whatever. I'll shut up now. As usual, my complaining isn't doing any good."

Instead of complaining, he started following me around, acting dramatically mopey. I pretended to ignore him, but was grinning to myself. I knew Ben didn't mind too much. He just liked to bug me sometimes. Course I bugged him too sometimes.

"I have an idea!" Ben exclaimed after a while.

"What?"

"Why don't you ask Sabrina where to catch an Abra?"

"I could do that?" I replied, not sounding too interested.

"It would be easier," Ben sighed.

"Yep," I agreed.

"By the way," Ben commented, "where are we?"

We were, in fact, at the edge of a strange patch of thorny bushes. Saffron City was visible off behind us. We'd struck off cross-country to the northeast. So while we didn't know exactly where we were, we weren't quite lost… We could see the city at least.

A gust of wind drifted past us, powerful enough that Ben and I had to brace ourselves against it.

Pexle was walking at my heels. He shivered a bit at the wind.

I froze. I had heard something. A sound I was coming to know very well.

I glanced around madly, trying to figure out where I'd heard it.

"Did you hear that?" I gasped.

"What?" Ben asked, thinking something was wrong.

I smiled. "I just heard Mew."

"Where?" Ben asked.

I glanced around. It had been when the wind had blown, so it was hard to tell but…

"I think it came from this direction."

I turned right. Ben, Pexle and I skirted around the thicket of leafless thorny brambles.

"These look hazardous," Ben muttered to himself, gingerly poking at one of the thorns.

I froze so that Ben crashed into me and almost sent me head-first into the thorns. He grabbed me and pulled me back in time to avoid the disaster.

"What is it?" Ben asked, once he was sure I was steady on my feet again.

"Look."

I pointed to a narrow tunnel through the brambles. It would be barely large enough for a person to crawl through.

"You think Mew is in there?" Ben asked, looking not too thrilled about the idea.

I shrugged.

"If you go in there, you'll get all scraped up." He looked concerned.

"I got my coat on." It was an overcast, windy day, so at least I had some minor protection from thorns if I crawled in there.

"Your face and hair," Ben muttered. "They'll catch the thorns…"

I shrugged. "What's the point of being a Pokémon trainer of you don't do little adventures every now and then?"

"You seem to live by that," Ben muttered. "Hey, if you _are _going in there, you should take my coat too for an extra level of protection…" He made to take off his jacket.

I shook my head, though I was touched by the gesture. "I don't want you to get too cold. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

I nodded and crouched down in front of the tunnel.

"I bet some little Pokémon made it."

"No doubt," Ben sighed. "Be careful in there. You could run out of space really fast."

I nodded and started crawling inside. Pexle followed, but Ben waited outside.

I winced as an occasional thorn caught my sleeves and hair. I'd tied my hair in a ponytail and shoved it down the back of my shirt, but it was a narrow path and the thorns did scratch me a few times. But not as much as I would have thought. My clothes did protect me pretty well, and my jacket was sturdy.

It took me a moment to realize that the thorns had pulled away from me. I looked up and found myself in a little cave in the middle of a thicket. It was just big enough for me to sit up in.

I blinked and stared at what was in front of me. Across the little cave of thorns, fast asleep, was an Abra.

Was it coincidence? Or had Mew led me here? I was pretty sure I'd heard Mew, but I could have been mistaken…

So, the Abra was asleep. Last night I'd looked up some information about Abra. They slept a LOT. But they could do stuff even when they were asleep. And Abra had a tendency to teleport away at the first sign of danger, so I'd have to do this carefully…

Pexle stopped at my side and blinked around. I reached to my belt and pulled out a Pokéball.

"Hah," I thought to myself. "Ben accuses me of never using my Gastly. "Just because I keep a lot of Pokémon at Professor Oak's lab doesn't mean I never use them. I just don't use them as much as I use my favorites."

"OK, Gastly," I whispered, "I need you to get behind that Abra and keep it from escaping."

If the Abra heard anything, it didn't react. I opened Gastly's Pokéball. He appeared, and then vanished instantly, making his way around behind Abra. Then he reappeared and flung himself on the psychic Pokémon, engulfing him in smoke.

Abra woke up and started struggling. I quickly grabbed an empty Pokéball and threw it. Abra vanished inside. Gastly, Pexle and I watched as the Pokéball rocked back and forth, and then fell still. I'd caught Abra.

I grinned and gave Pexle and Gastly the thumbs up. Then I turned around and we made our way back out of the brambles.

Ben was standing a little ways away, rubbing his arms and shivering. It had gotten windier while I was in the thicket, but the brambles had shielded me from the worst of it.

"Ben," I called, standing up and grinning. "Check it out!"

I held out the Pokéball. "There was an Abra in there!"

Ben blinked at me. "What? An Abra?"

I nodded.

"You caught it?"

I nodded again, grinning broadly.

Ben rubbed his head, looking confused. "I don't' understand you, Cara. I don't get how you can do these things. Okay, you got your Abra. Let's get back to town and start training."

I named my new Abra Kinesis. And Ben and I did return to Saffron City. I let out my Abra to try training it. But it was fast asleep. As much as I begged, pleaded, and shouted, Abra didn't even budge.

Ben sighed. "I told you. Only certain people can control Abra. Yours won't even wake up. What are you gonna do now?"

I sat down on a bench, massaging my temples and thinking. I hadn't counted on Abra ignoring me completely.

"Please wake up," I sighed one last time.

Of course, no response. Abra just gave a little snore. I got the distinct impression that Abra was trying my patience. That he was pretending to be sleep, or something like that.

"Okay then," I said, sounding very determined. I got to my feet.

Ben blinked. "What are you doing?"

I bent and scooped Kinesis into my arms. "Let's try something different. Ben, I'll meet you in the Pokémon Center after dinner some time."

Before Ben could say another word, I'd stalked away from him, carrying Abra out of the city.


	13. Abra Kadabra

Ooh, there was that one episode where Ash battled Sabrina. It really looks impossible to fight psychic Pokémon unless you got one of your own. I'm glad the game boys weren't like that!

This is a completely random note and you're welcome to make of it what you will. But it relates to Cara's weak "power" – I know a pet psychic. So I thought why not give that talent to a Pokémon trainer considering some people in that world seem to be able to do it?

Kinesis-Abra

Abra Kadabra

It was time. I was ready.

Ben and I made our way to the Saffron City Gym. Ben had his Haunter and I had my Abra. Now we'd see if my training paid off.

I glanced down at the Pokéball in my hand.

_Please let this turn out well, _I pleaded to myself. If Abra didn't work, I wasn't sure what I'd do. I could train up my Gastly some more… That would be about all I could do. I'd seen what happens when a normal Pokémon battles a Pokémon with psychic powers. Non-psychic Pokémon don't stand a chance. As long As Kinesis, my Abra, battled… well, we'd see.

We stepped into the gym.

A woman with long dark hair approached us. Sabrina, the psychic Pokémon master. She was somehow more formidable-looking than the other gym leaders so far. Except perhaps for Lieutenant Surge. She seemed very serious.

"We're here to challenge you," I announced.

"So I see," Sabrina replied. "Very well then. Which of you will go first?"

"You go, Ben," I said.

Ben glanced at me and gave me a little nod. He didn't know what I'd done during my training session with Kinesis. I hadn't told him. I needed to see if it had worked first…

We followed Sabrina into the arena and Ben stepped up to challenge her.

I watched the match without really paying much attention to it. But I did notice that Sabrina had an Abra.

It was a long match that weemed like a tie-game all the way until the end with Haunter's Night Shade.

I realized after the match was over that I should have been paying attention - noticing how Sabrina battled. I mentally kicked myself.

Now it was my turn.

Sabrina left the stadium for a moment to heal her Abra.

I took a deep breath and stepped down onto the arena. Ben took a seat and gave me the thumbs up. I smiled weakly back at him.

I looked down at Kinesis's Pokéball again.

_You can do it, _I thought. _This will work. We can make this work. Just don't fall asleep! _

I shook my head, trying t brush away that last comment. It sounded too un-confident. I'd promised him that I'd stay confident. Or else…

Sabrina entered the arena again. She sent out her Abra. I sent out my Abra as well.

The two Abra stood facing each other. They were both awake, at least. That was heartening-that Kinesis wasn't going to sleep through the match.

_Okay, _I thought, _Sabrina's Abra will probably start with a psychic attack. So you block it and come in with the attacks we practiced. _

Kinesis nodded in response to my thoughts.

Then Sabrina's Abra attacked, blasting psychic energy at Kinesis. Kinesis raised his hands, blocking the attack. He then shoved his hands forwards, making the energy flash back at Abra. Abra cried out as the countered move shoved her back into the wall. Kinesis leapt in and kicked Abra onto the ground.

Yes, as Kinesis and I had trained alone on the outskirts of Saffron City, I had taught him more than just psychic attacks. I knew my Abra didn't have as much experience as Sabrina's would. We'd need something more. So I'd convinced Kinesis to try some kicks and punches that Bruce had taught me. He wasn't too thrilled with the idea of using fighting type moves, but so far, they'd proved effective.

Sabrina's Abra got to her feet again. At the same time, both Abra reached forwards, sending out another psychic blast. The two blasts collided in midair and pushed against each other. The two Abra grit their teeth and pushed with all their might, trying to outdo the other. The power built up between them.

_Kinesis, let it go and get out of the way! If all that power keeps building up, it will burst! _

Kinesis gave a slight nod. He leapt up into the air, giving a sudden shove down with his psychic powers. At that moment, the build-up of energy blasted outwards. Sabrina's Abra was slammed down into the floor and skidded back against the wall. Kinesis caught the shock-wave in mid-air and soared across the stadium. He used psychic to land lightly on the ground again.

Suddenly he began to glow. He was evolving!

A moment later, Kinesis the Kadabra was standing there.

Sabrina's Abra was shakily getting to her feet.

With a sudden burst of powerful energy, Kinesis used Confusion and threw Abra against the wall where she lay defeated.

I blinked in surprise. It had ended so abruptly! Kinesis's evolution had given him the major advantage. If he was this strong, what could he do after evolving into an Alakazam?

Sabrina returned her Abra. Kinesis walked over to me.

I grinned down at him.

"Thanks buddy. That was excellent."

Kadabra smiled and nodded.

I looked up as Sabrina approached me.

"I noticed that you didn't give your Pokémon any commands during the battle. Is it because you let him do all the battling? Or did you give him commands without using words?"

It looked that if I didn't answer the latter, she would smack me or something. And I wouldn't blame her. Only a very bad trainer would not say a word during the match and would let the Pokémon do all the work. Unless there was some special training involved - Where Pokémon and trainer practiced together so much that the Pokémon automatically knew what to do in most situations… But Sabrina knew I wasn't that experienced.

"I _think_ the commands to him," I replied, somewhat put-off by her unsmiling attitude. "Especially with Kinesis. He's good at hearing those. See, I caught him two days ago. At first he didn't to a thing I said. He was asleep the whole time. So I took him out away from the city to see what I could do with him. I kept telling him to wake up, but he didn't move. So I sort of sat down, dejected, and thought to myself, 'please wake up.' And he did. He finally opened his eyes. And then I remembered It only happens sometimes, but my Pokémon sometimes know what I'm gonna tell them to do before I even open my mouth. So I thought I should try that more with Kinesis since he's a psychic Pokémon and he'd just heard my thought to wake up, even though he'd ignored my verbal commands. It was… almost like he was waiting for me to figure that out. Cause after that, he started paying attention to my thoughts."

I blinked, surprised that I'd admitted all this. I hadn't even told Ben yet. He was staring blankly at me as I explained all of this.

Sabrina nodded, looking a little less stern. "Yes. Abra is a psychic Pokémon. It only makes sense that he would take commands through telepathy."

"Telepathy?" I repeated. "I haven't been using telepathy, have I?"

"Yes. I sensed it about you when you entered. You have very faint psychic powers. I think it's mainly telepathy though. I doubt you'd be able to do much with telekinesis."

I blinked. I couldn't believe it. So that was the answer. I had telepathy. That was how my Pokémon knew what I was going to say before I said it…

"Granted," Sabrina continued, "it's very weak. You need to let it grow more. If you like, since you won your gym match, I can teach you a little bit about it."

I nodded, excitement growing in me. "That would be great!"

Ben had been banished from the gym since he wasn't included in this lesson. I'd felt bad for him, but it was the only way I could get a lesson with Sabrina.

For the rest of the day, Sabrina and I sat alone it a room doing strange exercises. She held a card and told me to guess what shape was on it. She also had me try to bend a spoon without touching it. Needless to say, I failed miserably.

"These are just examples of what psychics do for their training," Sabrina told me as she set down a card with a star marked on it. "These often take years of training to master unless one is born with unusually strong psychic abilities."

I knew that Sabrina was like this. I'd heard that she'd mastered amazing feats while still a child. She was one of the best psychics in Kanto.

"Like I said, I think your psychic abilities are restricted to telepathy, but that doesn't mean you can't try these other exercises. Just don't expect too much of yourself. Now, as a general rule, it's a lot easier for a Pokémon to hear the thoughts of a human that it is for a human to understand a Pokémon. It takes a lot of practice to hear what Pokémon are thinking. But that's what I'll teach you."

When I left the gym, my head was buzzing.

I'd taken notes on most of what she'd told me in the hopes that I'd understand it later, but it was all pretty confusing now. I think I'm pretty good at making my thoughts known to my Pokémon. But like Sabrina said, I'll need to practice before I can hear them reply.

I sighed and massaged my head. I glanced down at Kinesis who was walking along besides me.

"Oy, I don't understand how you psychic Pokémon do it."

Kinesis cocked his head and looked up at me.

_You'll learn in time. _


	14. Childhood Friend

Ah, just a random little chapter. I forget what made me write this one. Oh well.

Polaris-Ponyta, Pooka-Pikachu, Charren-Charmeleon, Blossom-Ivysaur

Childhood Friend

After our interesting experience in Saffron City, Ben and I headed back towards Lavender Town to take the path to Fuchsia City. It would have been faster to take the Cycling Road from Celadon, but neither of us had bikes. So we rode Polaris around the long way.

We headed south from Lavender Town and came upon a little town where we paused to spend the night.

"Boy it's a good thing they have this little town for travelers," Ben muttered as we sat outside admiring the forest. Pooka, Charren, and Ben's Wartortle and Pidgey were curled up nearby. "We were almost out of supplies."

"Yeah, but we were held up by that Snorlax sleeping in the middle of the road. There was no way to get through."

"Oy, it's hard to wake those things up," Ben moaned.

Yes, it had been quite the delay. We weren't the only ones to be held up by the wild Snorlax in the middle of the road. And the forest was too thick to pass by on either side.

"I'm glad you got that Pokéflute when we went to Silph Co."

"When we _went_ to Silph?" I repeated. "That's not what I remember. I remember you dragging me in there to see what they were busy working on. And since I have a taste for music and I can play flute, I thought the Pokéflute would be a good thing to keep me amused while you talked to all those crazy mechanics."

"And you didn't know that that flute you bought had the power to wake up sleeping Pokémon?"

"That's not why I bought it. The important thing was that we got Snorlax out of the way. So people can get through now."

Ben gave a little snort of laughter.

"What?"

"Professor Oak."

"What about Professor Oak?"

"Well, you sent Snorlax to him after you caught it, right?"

"Well… yeah."

"Snorlax eat a lot when they wake up. He's gonna have a time feeding that big black hole for food."

I smiled and shook my head. "Well, I'm sure having a Snorlax might come in handy some time. They're really strong."

"When they wake up."

"I got my flute for that."

Ben reached into his pocket and pulled out something he'd gotten at Silph. He was very excited about his new purchase.

"What did you get this time?"

Ben turned on the device again and started staring very hard at the screen.

"It's called a PokéGear. They're supposed to be the newest thing for trainers. But all it has is a map, a clock, a phone and a radio."

"Is that all?" I replied sarcastically.

"I think I can wirelessly link my Pokédex to the Pokégear so that I can use it to send information from my Pokédex to other people."

"Any reason you'd need to do such a thing? Or is it just to see if you can do it."

"And I can probably hook up my camera to it too…" Ben muttered, not even hearing my question.

I sighed. I recognized that tone of voice. Ben was being sucked into his electronics again. Talk about a black hole.

"You need an electric Pokémon," I suggested. "Then you'd have someone with as many sparks in the brain as you got."

"An Electabuzz would be nice," Ben muttered.

I was surprised he'd even noticed that I was talking.

"So, who are you going to call first?" I asked.

"Hmm?"

"With your new phone?"

"Yeah," Ben muttered.

I rolled my eyes. Well, serves me right for trying to talk to him when he's like this.

"Ben," I whispered dramatically, "Are your brains getting sucked out?"

"Mmm hmm."

I started laughing.

Ben paused to blink at me.

"What?"

"You! You're so weird!"

"Well, right now, someone thinks you're really weird."

I stopped laughing and turned to see what Ben was pointing at.

There was a little girl standing a few yards away, staring at us. She had a red dress on and brown pigtails. The moment she saw us looking at her, she gave a little gasp and ran down the road into town.

Ben and I exchanged glances.

"That was… odd," Ben noted.

"Yes. Now, put the Pokémon Gear, or whatever it's called, away so we can go get some dinner."

"Okay, okay. I'll pack up.

It took Ben several minutes to neatly stow all his electronics away. I went over to sit with Pooka and Charren as I waited.

Then I saw the little girl again. She was peeking out from behind a building. She withdrew her head, and peeked out a moment later. Then she stepped into view, shuffled in place, and slowly approached us.

"Hi," she whispered when she was about a yard from us. "You guys got Pokémon."

She was staring at the four Pokémon next to them. They'd all sat up to look at the girl.

"I'm Mary," she said.

I could tell that she was about six years old. I also noticed that Mary was holding something. Something round. And it was red and white. A Pokéball?

"Well," Mary continued Shyly, "we're the only town around here. Sometimes scary people come by. And sometimes Pokémon cause trouble. So I thought that if I had a Pokémon of my own, I'd be okay. Cause my Pokémon can protect me. But my parents can't get one for me, so I thought I'd ask Pokémon trainers the next time they passed through."

"Oh, you want us to help you catch a Pokémon!" I exclaimed.

Mary nodded.

"Sure we'll help! Is there anything you had in mind?"

Ben nodded in agreement. "We're good at catching things."

"Well, there's an Oddish that likes to play in the gardens…"

I stood up. "Well, that sounds great. Show us the way."

Mary beamed. "Oh, thank you! That's great! The gardens are this way!"

She took off at a run down the road and Ben and I followed with our Pokémon trailing behind. We jogged down a few roads and around corners until we stopped at a large open area. There were alternating patches of vegetables and flowers.

"Where is your Oddish?" Ben asked. "Does it have a place where it likes to hang out?"

Mary nodded and ran over to a patch of flowers. She pushed the leafy branches to the side, searching for Oddish. Suddenly something burst out of the flowers, making Mary cry out and fall backwards onto her rear.

The Oddish landed and started running to another patch of flowers to hide itself. But Pooka dashed forwards, and the other Pokémon quickly ran forwards to surround Oddish and keep it from escaping.

"Okay, Mary," I said. "Oddish can't get away. I'll let you borrow Blossom, my Ivysaur. Now you can tell her to use an attack. I'd suggest Tackle, Vine Whip, or Razor Leaf."

I handed her Blossom's Pokéball. She took it and looked up at me. I nodded to her. She threw out the Pokéball and released Blossom.

"Okay, use Vine Whip, Blossom," Mary said.

Blossom turned to look at me. I motioned that it was okay for her to obey the little girl. So Blossom charged forwards and used Vine Whip to strike Oddish.

"Tackle," Mary said.

Blossom sent Oddish flying, and she landed, stunned.

"Now, Mary! Throw your Pokéball!"

Mary took her empty Pokéball and threw it at Oddish. Oddish vanished inside in a flash of light. The orb rattled around for a moment, and then went still.

"Did it work?" Mary asked.

I nodded. "Yep. Go get your new Oddish."

Mary picked up the Pokéball and then turned to us, beaming.

"Thanks! This is great! I have my own Pokémon!"

I nodded. "Yes. You can give her a nickname if you want. Now remember, Oddish isn't just a pet. She's a friend. Treat her well."

"I will!" Mary cried, nodding vigorously. "We'll be good friends!"


	15. The Great Race

OK, so this is the first chapter where I blatantly steal something from the TV show. But This was really the only episode in the first season that featured a Ponyta. And the race looked really cool too. So back when I wrote the first draft of this, I decided to stick Cara into this race.

And the info about a Ponyta with a white coat-I didn't make that up. I remember reading about it in one of the comics.

Polrais-Ponyta, Charren-Charmeleon, Pooka-Pikachu

The Great Race

Look out, Pooka!" I shouted.

Pooka leapt to the side to avoid Muk's Pound attack. Pooka landed behind Muk and sent out a blast of electricity that engulfed Muk. The poison Pokémon winced, but appeared almost completely unaffected by Pooka's attack. I grit my teeth. Nothing was working against this Muk!

I looked across the stadium to where Koga was standing, smirking. So far, he was proving to be a very difficult gym leader to defeat. But we weren't giving up yet. We'd already defeated his Weezing. All he had left was Muk. And though Charren was tired from fighting Weezing, she had enough energy left to battle some more.

Muk suddenly whirled around and used Sludge, sending a sticky blob of slime at Pooka. Pooka wasn't fast enough to dodge and it hit him in the face.

Pooka cried out and staggered backwards, trying to wipe the stuff out of his eyes. Muk seized the opportunity to launch forwards and bury Pikachu under his slimy body.

"No!" I shouted. As much as Pikachu struggled and sparked, he couldn't get out from under Muk. And eventually his struggling died down. Muk slid off of Pooka, showing that my Pikachu had fainted.

I growled and returned my Pokémon. Muk had most of his energy left. And Charren was tired already…

I sent out Charmeleon, who appeared, panting slightly.

"Okay, do your best to dodge," I told her.

_But if he catches you, _I thought very hard, _then we'll give him a real surprise. _

For a whole minute, Charren dodged around Muk's attacks, sending out bursts of flame. She was tired, and she couldn't keep these maneuvers up forever. And sure enough, Charren eventually lost her footing. Muk quickly sprang forwards and once again engulfed my Pokémon.

"Now!" I shouted.

All at once, Charren unleashed the Rage attack she'd been slowly building up throughout the battle. In a fiery storm, Muk was flung upwards and engulfed by flames. And a moment later, the fierce attack faded and Muk crashed to the ground in a purple puddle.

I gasped and dropped to my knees. We'd won.

Ben and I continued on towards the Safari Zone. Polaris walked alongside us, getting some fresh air. As we exited the city, we came upon a large open space divided up partly by pastures. We blinked and gazed out across it. There were herds of Dodrio, Rhyhorn, and Tauros milling around.

"This must be that big ranch," I muttered. "The one I read about in that book."

"Yeah?" Ben said, shading his eyes and glancing out towards a town in the center of the pastures.

"Yeah. Supposedly this place is famous for raising strong Pokémon. They raise them partly in the wild, or something. I forget what it's called though."

"This here's the Laramy Big P Ranch," said an unfamiiar voice.

We turned to see a girl coming towards us. And she was riding a Ponyta.

Polaris pricked up her ears and stared at the approaching Ponyta. Come to think of it, since I'd gotten her, we'd never met another Ponyta. This must be interesting for her.

The girl and her Ponyta pulled up alongside us.

"Howdy!" she hailed as she dismounted from her Ponyta. "Are you all here for the big race?"

"Big race?" I repeated, suddenly very interested.

"That's right. There's a big race tomorrow. I assumed that you were here for it since you got yourselves a Ponyta too."

"Oh, well, no. We weren't here for the race. But I'd really love to take part in one! How about you, Polaris?"

Polaris nodded eagerly.

""Well, that's great. My name's Lara. I can help ya get signed up for the race."

"That's great! By the way, Lara, my name's Cara."

"I'm Ben."

"Are you going to enter?" she asked Ben.

Ben shook his head. "I can't. I don't have any Pokémon that I can ride. I've been wanting to catch a Tauros, but I haven't found any wild ones yet."

"Ah, well, you can still take part in the party tonight. And you can watch the race too.

"Yep. That's fine with me."

We headed down the road towards the town.

"The winner of the race becomes a member of the Laramy clan," Lara informed us as we walked along.

"That's cool! So we get to be in on how all of you train these Pokémon to be so strong?"

"That's right."

I grinned. "That's cool. It would be great to get a Pokémon from the Laramy Ranch…"

"I'll tell you what," Lara said. "Why don't we make a bet. It you beat me in the race tomorrow, I'll give you one of my Tauros. I raise Tauros, ya see."

"But what if you beat me?"

"Then you'd give me one of your Pokémon."

I blinked at her. "Uh… which one? I have quite a few…"

"We can figure that out later. I'd just like to get a new Pokémon. It would have to be a fair trade for my Tauros though."

"Well," I muttered, scratching my head," I guess that's fair."

Lara turned to look at Polaris again.

"Where did you get your Ponyta?" she asked.

"Oh, I saved her from some boys that were attacking her. More like torturing her…"

"Some boys?" Lara repeated. She stopped waking. "Where? When?"

"It's to the west of here. Sort of near Pallet Town, I guess. It was a few months ago. What's wrong?"

She had a strange expression on her face.

"Oh, it's nothing. But see, your Ponyta has a white coat. Mine does too."

I looked at her Ponyta. Sure enough, her fur was as pure white as Polaris's. It wasn't that pale creamy yellow that most Ponyta were.

"The white coat means that they're a thoroughbred. So they're better than normal Ponyta."

"Oh, that's cool! I didn't know you were a thoroughbred, Polaris. No wonder you're pretty strong."

Polaris nodded.

The next morning was the race. All of the entrants lined up on the starting line.

I took a deep breath and patted Polaris's neck.

"Are you nervous?" I asked her. She shook her head.

Once again, we scanned the line of participants. Lara was a little ways down the line. There were a couple people riding Rapidash. That alone was worrying. Rapidash can run faster than 100 miles per hour. They're the fastest runners in Kanto. There were also several people on Dodrio, and a couple Tauros. Those were the main Pokémon steeds, though there were a few others too.

"Almost ready," I muttered as the red light flashed on. Everyone tensed, ready to dash.

And the light turned green. All at once, the Pokémon surged forwards. Within a few seconds, two of the Rapidash and a Dodrio had sprinted to the lead.

"Let them go," I muttered. "They'll tire themselves out soon enough."

Just then, a second Dodrio dashed past us in a cloud of dust. I coughed but kept my eyes on the road, which was lucky because that Dodrio was going too fast. It collided with one of the Rapidash and they fell in a tangle to the ground. The other Rapidash and Dodrio in the lead tripped over them and landed in a heap. The other racers were about to head into this dangerous pile-up.

"Look out!" I shouted to Polaris. She swerved to the side to avoid the jam, almost crashing into a Tauros to our left. My knees banged against the Tauros's rider. We barely managed to avoid getting caught in the tangle.

Polaris sped up to put distance between her and the Pokémon crash behind her. I turned around to take one last look at it. Sure enough, several of the other Pokémon had got caught up behind it.

I turned back to the front. There were several other riders in front of us. Lara and her Ponyta wee among them.

"Remember, don't go too fast at first. Save your energy for the last dash," I muttered.

Then the racetrack started up a large hill. Some of the Pokémon tried to sprint up the steep slope, but they exhausted themselves very quickly. Polaris started to speed up too. I took her reigns and tugged gently. "Calm down. Running uphill is very exhausting."

She tossed her head, but slowed down a bit.

We reached the top of the hill and started down the other side. Polrais built up momentum as we sprinted downwards.

In front of us, one of the Rapidash was also sprinting downhill. But going down is more dangerous than going up. The Rapidash's legs got tangled. With a terrified whinny, he pitched head over heels. Polaris gathered herself and leapt over the fallen Rapidash and his rider.

I blinked to see that there was only one other rider ahead of us. It was Lara.

The next obstacle was a lake with large steppingstones across it. Lara and her Ponyta skipped easily across. Polaris followed, going at a more cautious pace.

Behind us, I heard a loud splash as someone fell into the water. I didn't look back. We needed to concentrate on these steppingstones…

And we were across.

In front of us was a steep cliff with ledges for us to jump down. Polaris made her way down, and when we reached solid ground again, we were almost caught up with Lara.

Ahead of us was a straight shot back to the stadium.

Lara shot away ahead of us. Polaris and I rocketed after her. We slowly gained until we were level with her Ponyta's tail.

"Go, go GO!" I shouted. We could see the finish line now.

Polaris raised her head and whinnied. She surged forwards, every muscle tensed and ready to spring. We slowly crept forwards until we were neck and neck with Lara's Ponyta. The two of them shot down the last stretch of track. There was the finish line, just ahead of us. With one last push, Polaris straightened her neck and pulled up one pace ahead of Lara. And we were across the finish line.

Our momentum carried us far past the finish line. I gasped for breath. Polaris's sides were heaving and she was panting hard. She slowed down and finally stopped. I blinked and looked around. I finally realized that the crowd was cheering.

"Did we… win?" I muttered.

Polaris raised her head too and gazed up at the stadium. Though she was exhausted, she tossed her head happily.

"Good job," Cara." I turned to see Lara. But she didn't look very disappointed. She looked happy for me. "That was a great race. I haven't had so much fun in a long time."

I grinned broadly. "Yeah, neither have I. That was so _exciting_!"

Polaris and I headed over to the winner's circle to accept our prize. We were officially entered into the Laramy clan. I don't think I'd ever seen Polaris ever look so smug.

After the crowds died down, we headed back to Lara's house to rest. Polaris and Lara's Ponyta grazed contentedly in the pastures. They both deserved a rest.

"Hey, Cara," Lara said to me when we'd all sat down in the shade. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you about your Ponyta. You said you rescued her a few months ago, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Just after my birthday."

"Ya see, those boys who had her, they stole her from the Laramy ranch."

I stared at her. Ben's jaw dropped.

"Polaris is from _here_?"

"Yeah. Three boys broke into the ranch to steal Pokémon. All they managed to get was one of our young Ponyta. And they got away before we could stop them. But now you're an official member of the Laramy Clan. And I can see that you're taking good care of your Ponyta. So I'm glad things turned out the way they did."

I nodded. Well, now I know where Polaris came from. And why she was stronger than normal Ponyta.

"And these are for you."

Lara reached into her pocket and took out two Pokéballs. She handed one to me and one to Ben."

"Me?" Ben said, startled.

Lara nodded. "Yep. You said you wanted a Tauros. And I raised these Tauros myself."

"That's great!" I exclaimed, taking the Pokéball. "Thanks!"

"Thanks to you too," Lara said. "I'm glad to have you guys as friends. And I'm glad you ended up with Polaris. Y'all keep in touch now, you hear?"

"Definitely," I agreed.

"We'll need to get your phone number," Ben said, taking out his Pokégear.

I smiled and shook my head. Ben was so predictable.

I smiled down at my new Tauros.

"Yes, we'll keep in touch."


	16. The Safari Zone

Ah, I think I have to mention Tauros. Did anyone notice in the original red/blue/yellow games that it was practically IMPOSSIBLE to catch Tauros? And in the anime, Ash caught about 30 Tauros by accident. Hmm.

In the games it would take about 50 trips to the Safari Zone to catch all the Pokémon there, so for convenience sake, I'm just gonna get them all in one trip. And also in the TV show, the Safari balls seemed to have a 100% catch rate. So, once again, I'll stick with that for convenience sake. Bear with me, Okay? ^-^

Oh, and I stole the idea of the fishing pole with the Pokéball on the end. Have any of you read the comic (manga) Pokémon Adventures? (I recommend it. It's actually pretty good. Ask me if you want to know where to read it). One of the characters has the fishing pole. She's my favorite character from the manga. I wonder if I can find a way to put them in my story somehow… that would be cool.

Most of the stuff I'm putting on fanfiction is completely re-written. For example, this chapter was only one page when I started. And mainly summary. So I'll add some life to it. Actually, that's what I've been doing to most of these chapters. Either I completely re-write them, or I add all new chapters to give the whole thing a plot (even if a rather vague one). I think you'd cry from boredom if you read the original version. Either that or just throw it out the window. OK… I'll be quiet now. Just an annoyed reminder from me about how old and crazy this is (I say annoyed because school is putting me in a very bad mood now. Sorry, I'll shut up).

Polaris-Ponyta

The Safari Zone

The Safari Zone! I'd been hearing about this place for quite a while now. A big Pokémon reserve where trainers can go in and catch as many Pokémon as they want.

Ben and I rode into the information center. I of course was riding Polaris. And Ben was riding his new Tauros. He was still wearing a big grin because of his newest Pokémon.

Ben and I scanned the rule sheet that was up on the wall of the center. It was mainly information We'd heard before: you can't use your own Pokémon-they must stay in their Pokéballs, you can't hurt the wild Pokémon, don't destroy the habitat, only use the safari balls, which have a high catch rate.

Ben and I walked to the front counter and signed up to enter the Safari Zone. The manager handed us each a sack of Safari Balls. Ben and I pocketed our Pokémon and headed out into the jungle.

We walked along the path for a few minutes. We could see that patches of the jungle were thick and almost impenetrable. But we could also tell that if we wanted to find any rare Pokémon, we'd have to leave the path. All we found while on the main trail was an Exeggcute and a Tangela.

"Are we allowed to leave the trail?" Ben asked hesitantly. We'd found a patch of brush thin enough to let us pass through.

"It didn't say in the rules that we had to stick to the path," I pointed out.

"True," Ben agreed. "I'm glad I got my Tauros already, though. I've heard they're almost impossible to catch in the Safari Zone."

"Yeah, I've heard that too. There are a few Pokémon that are very difficult to catch. So it was very nice of Lara to give us those Tauros. Did you know that Tauros is one of my Dad's favorite Pokémon?"

Ben shook his head and we scrambled off of the path and into the wilderness.

"Just as long as we don't get lost," Ben said.

I nodded. "That wouldn't be fun."

"Look out!" I shouted suddenly, shoving Ben to the side and leaping to the ground. It was just in time too. A Scyther had leapt out of the bushes. With one of its blade-like forearms, it had sliced at us, neatly severing a thick branch just over our heads. Ben rolled out of the side to avoid the falling branch.

"It's a Scyther nest!" I hissed.

"I think we picked the wrong place to leave the path," Ben snapped.

Again the Scyther lunged.

Ben and I didn't have a chance to move. We were both flat on the ground. I acted automatically, flinging my hand out. For one moment, both of us huddled on the ground, expecting to feel the scythes on us at any moment.

I slowly opened my eyes and looked up. It had worked. At the last moment, I had held up my hand with an empty Safari Ball in it. And Scyther had accidentally struck the Pokéball and vanished safely inside it. I'd caught it.

It took Ben another moment to realize that the danger had passed. Both of us sat up.

"Where did it go?" I asked blankly.

Still shaking, I held up the Pokéball.

"Ah," Ben nodded. "Well, nice catch. Thanks for that."

He pushed himself to his feet and then took my hand and pulled me up too.

"Are you sure you don't want to stick to the path?" he suggested.

"Well, I think if we're just a bit more cautious…"

"Yeah, I thought so. Okay then. Let's be 'more cautious.'"

We trekked slowly deeper into the forest. We found a herd of Rhyhorn and quickly caught one a piece. There were Venonat, and we even ran into a pair of Pinsir which we caught as they started to charge us.

""You know," I noted, "I think that most people stay on the trail. Which is why the Pokémon back here have tried to attack us. That might also be why people have trouble finding certain Pokémon."

"But you don't care if we're attacked as long as there's rare Pokémon back here, right?" Ben said grinning. "I'm not too worried. You can talk to Pokémon."

"Sort of. At least they can understand me. Easier than I can understand them yet. I'm still working on it."

"You're pretty decent if you don't concentrate too hard."

"Yeah, I guess. But it wouldn't have worked on that Scyther anyway. He was too mad to listen to what I'd have to say."

"Yeah, no kiddi-"

I put a hand out and grabbed his shoulder. He jerked to a halt.

"What?"

I pointed to a little glade off to our right. There were two Chansey standing there, facing away from us and huddled over something.

Ben slowly grinned and nodded. The two of us silently pulled out a couple of Safari Balls, took a few steps nearer, and then at the same time threw them. The two Chansey vanished inside.

"I don't believe it!" Ben hissed excitedly. "Chansey are supposed to be some of the hardest to approach. I wonder why they didn't hear us coming?"

Well that wasn't hard to answer. I pointed at the glade where the two Chansey had been. Sitting there alone was a baby Kangaskhan. The Chansey had probably been watching over it.

Ben quickly shut his mouth when he too saw the baby Kangaskhan. "Oh. I see. I guess it lost its mom, huh?"

I nodded. I walked slowly forwards towards the baby Kangaskhan. It let out a frightened squeak and huddled into a ball.

"Calm down, sweetie," I said, bending and picking her up.

She let out another squeal and started struggling, trying to wriggle free.

"That's enough," I whispered. "I'm not going to hurt you. Calm down."

I stroked the Kangashkan until she stopped wriggling so much. She still looked rather tense though at being handled by a Pokémon.

"Let's get moving," I suggested. "Let's find a spot to sit for a while. I think the baby is hungry."

We moved on, carrying the little Kangaskhan with us. Finally we found a pond. Ben and I sat down at the bank and let Kangaskhan take a drink. She'd calmed down a bit and didn't seem as frightened. I gave her some Pokémon food to chew on.

"Well, let's try fishing some until she's rested up," I suggested. "I've heard that there are Dratini here."

"They don't usually show up though," Ben reminded me. "They're pretty reclusive."

"I'd love to get one though," I muttered dreamily. "Remember Lance had a Dratini. And they evolve into Dragonite. One of the strongest Pokémon."

So we sat down and got out our fishing rods. A few Pokémon passed by to take a drink as we sat there quietly. The baby Kangaskhan fell asleep on my lap.

We watched a herd of Rhyhorn wander past, dip their heads into the lake, and then disappear back into the trees. While we sat there, Ben and I each caught a Doduo and a Cubone also.

The rest of the time, we just watched the wild Pokémon pass by to take a drink. Most of them headed to the opposite side of the pond when they saw us sitting there. But since Ben and I were wearing clothes of earthy colors-greens and browns (picked especially for the occasion) some of the less observant Pokémon walked right past us.

The Pokémon did seem rather nervous about humans. Although I suppose I couldn't blame them. What with humans coming by and catching them… ?

We caught a few Pokémon with our fishing rod: Slowpoke, Psyduck, Krabby. We let most of them go. Ben kept a Krabby. And I didn't have a Slowpoke yet, so I caught one of them. Though they are, well, slow, they are pretty cute in their own way.

Well, we only had three Safari Balls left. I knew what I wanted to catch. If we found one.

Actually, Ben had caught more Pokémon here than I'd ever seen him catch. But then, there were a lot of Pokémon here that he liked a lot. And this was definitely a great place to catch Pokémon.

There was a rustling in the bushes across the lake. Ben and I looked up to see a group of five Kangaskhan come out of the forest.

We tensed and tried not to move. They hadn't seen us because of our camouflage clothes. So for a minute we remained unnoticed.

Ben gave me a little nudge and pointed. I followed his gaze. One of the Kangaskhan had an empty pouch. As her companions took a drink, that Kangaskhan looked around anxiously, as though searching for something.

That was the mom. The mom who had lost her baby.

Ben and I exchanged glances. Should we try to give the baby back? But the odds were, if the Kangaskhan saw us with their baby, they'd attack. They were very protective of their babies.

Just then, my fishing rod gave a jerk. I gasped. What lousy timing!

The Kangaskhan all looked over and saw us. The mother who'd lost her baby spotted her child asleep on my lap. She raised her head and let out a roar. And the five of them started stampeding around the lake towards us.

I leapt to my feet with the baby Kangaskhan, now wide awake, tucked under my arm. I gave a jerk of my fishing pole to try to pull it out of the water. In one fluid motion, a long blue and white body soared out of the water, right at us.

Well, it wasn't an occasion where I had much time to think. I caught the Dratini in my free arm and then I turned and followed Ben who'd already started fleeing back into the forest.

"Help me," I hissed. I was carrying a Kangaskhan, a Dratini, and my fishing rod. I thrust the latter into Ben's arms.

Behind us, we heard the herd of Kangaskhan crashing through the brush behind us.

I think I'm just making excuses, but it honestly didn't occur to me to put the baby Kangaskhan down. Though even if I did, they might have still chased us for revenge or something.

And they were gaining on us. The mother was the closest, bearing down on us like a tank.

"Wait!" I wailed, still running as fast as I could. "We weren't trying to kidnap your baby! We found her alone in the forest!"

As I had suspected, the Kangaskhan was too mad to listen.

"She'll be on us in a second!" Ben hissed.

"Then do something! My hands are full!"

With both fishing rods clutched in one hand, Ben grabbed one of the last three Safari Balls. He hooked it onto the end of the fishing rod. I hadn't the faintest idea what he was doing. Then he turned and swung the fishing rod. The Pokéball at the end struck the Kangaskhan and she vanished inside.

But the other four were still chasing us. And at the sight of their companion vanishing, they appeared even more enraged.

"I don't think that will stop them!" I cried, trying to run faster. But I was already exhausted. And the Kangaskhan were fueled by rage.

_Why are they chasing you? _

I blinked and looked down . The Dratini was gazing up at me, only mildly curious at these strange events in which she found herself.

_What? Because we found their baby alone in the woods, and they think we're trying to kidnap her. _

_So you didn't kidnap the baby? _

_Of course not! _

_Ah. Well, then let me help. _

Dratini craned her head over my shoulder and opened her mouth wide, letting out a high call. Lightning shot through the air and struck at the charging Kangaskhan. Instantly, all of them froze, static crackling across them. Dratini had used Thunder wave and paralyzed them.

Ben and I didn't stop running though. We'd decided it was high time to leave the Safari Zone. At least we'd gotten all the Pokémon we wanted.

Ben and I burst into the information center, gasping for breath. The ranger stared at us, completely bewildered. I still had Dratini and Kangaskhan tucked under my arms. Ben was holding the two fishing rods, one with the Kangaskhan-containing Safari ball still connected to the hook. Panting, I slumped forwards onto the desk.

The ranger blinked as I tried to speak.

"We… huff huff… we're done… huff huff. Thank you for… puff, letting us… huff… catch Pokémon here! Huff huff puff."

The Safari Zone ranger squinted at the Dratini who was hanging docile under my arm, and the little Kangaskhan, glancing around in interest at her surroundings.

"Hmm, yes," the ranger said. He removed his glasses and polished them on his shirt before replacing them again. He looked once again at the two Pokémon I held, and then he shook his head in bewilderment. "Um… Pokémon that are removed from the Safari Zone must be inside Safari Balls," he said almost automatically.

"Ah, yes," I panted. "I do actually have their Pokéballs here. Give me a sec." A moment later, I'd used the last two safari balls to capture Dratini and the little Kangaskhan. I felt a little guilty about separating the baby from its mother, but Ben had caught the mom so they could stay together most of the time anyway. Besides, I'd take good care of the little one and raise her well.

And I had my Dratini. Another high-maintenance Pokémon, but I'd do my best. Scyther too, and all the others.

And Ben had caught the Pokémon he really wanted-Kangaskhan, Chansey, ex.

We left the Safari Zone quite satisfied with ourselves, if still rather breathless from our run.


	17. The Stranded Eevee

Another random chapter. Because I love my Eevee evolutions, I had to think of a way to get my three Eevees (the others don't show up till later).

Ooh, this is strange. I wrote this a while ago, but last year I found myself in an incident very much like this one. There was a squirrel trapped inside my school's stairwell in a "pit" like this one (I don't know why there was a pit in the stairwell). So, I vaulted over the fence, grabbed the squirrel with my sweatshirt, and handed it up to the boy who'd told me about the squirrel. Then I had to get out of the pit, which was a bit tricky to do considering it was taller than me. Either way, everything turned out good. The squirrel was safe, and I became good friends with "squirrel boy" as my friends now call him.

Blossom-Ivysaur, Hurrico-Wartortle, Pooka-Pikachu, Leviathan-Gyarados

The Stranded Eevee

"So, I guess we're headed down to Cinnabar Island next, huh?" Ben asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. That's where the next gym is. And that's the only place that we haven't been to yet."

"Well, there's cycling road," Ben suggested. "We haven't been there."

"That takes us back to Celadon City. And besides, you need bicycles to go on that. We don't have bicycles. We've been over all this already."

"Well, _I _do have a bike. But it's at home. I like bikes. It's too bad we couldn't take cycling road at all."

"Well, getting to Celadon from here is mostly uphill. It would be a long ride."

"Yes. I know. I'm just… thinking out loud."

"Fascinating," I muttered.

"So, how do we get to Cinnabar then? Is there a boat? Oh yeah… the only boat this week left yesterday. So now what? Do we wait for the next boat?"

"We could surf," I suggested.

Ben flinched. "Do you mean on your Gyarados?"

"Who else do I have that could carry both of us?"

"Your Gyarados still kinda freaks me out."

"And I keep telling you. There's nothing to be freaked out about. If you want to wait a week for the next ferry…"

"I'll go! I'll go!" Ben hissed. "If only to make sure that that Gyarados doesn't eat you."

I snorted. "Give it a rest. If your Wartortle had evolved into a Blastoise, he could carry us."

"Well, what about _your_ Wartortle?"

"Well, they're definitely at the right levels to evolve. They just don't feel like evolving yet. Some Pokémon don't evolve right away, you know."

"I wonder what would happen if you taught Surf to a Pokémon like Poliwag."

I laughed. "That would be incredibly useless."

The sound of a motor made us look up. A motorcycle was coming towards us. It screeched to a halt.

As her motorcycle stopped before us, she examined Blossom, Pooka, and Pidgeotto who were all sitting out of their Pokéballs.

"Are you two Pokémon trainers?" Officer Jenny asked.

Both of us nodded.

"Can I ask for your assistance? We got a call in that there's some Pokémon stranded on cycling road, but our Growlithe can't get them out. It might be easier if you could use your Pokémon to help."

"Yeah, we'll help," I said.

"But we don't have any bikes," Ben pointed out.

"That's not problem. We can loan you a couple bikes. The Pokémon are trapped up near Celadon City. There's someone waiting to guide you there. You can return the bikes when you're done. Thanks for your help by the way. If you want to hop in, I'll take you to Cycling Road."

Ben and I returned our Pokémon and climbed into the passenger compartment of her motorcycle. She zoomed away down the street.

Our destination was only a couple blocks away. It seems she went out to get the first trainers she could find.

Jenny led us into the station and wheeled out a couple bikes for us. We took the bikes from her as she quickly repeated the instructions.

"So, the person who called in about the Pokémon will meet you right past the check point here. Good luck!"

"It' been a while since I rode a bike," I admitted as we pedaled out onto the bicycle path".

"Well, luckily it's something that's hard to forget."

I nodded.

We gazed out over the railing for a moment at the ocean before us. Some sea birds flew overhead and I saw a school of Magikarp in the distance. The sea breeze felt wonderful and chilly.

We looked up the Cycling road. Many of the people here looked like they were just enjoying the ride, but several of them were dressed in leather jackets and had heavy spiked bikes. They looked like gangs or something. I decided that it would be best to avoid them as much as possible. They loked like they would challenge you to battle or punch your nose off.

"Hey!"

Ben and I turned to see one of those tough-looking guys in a leather jacket. He was riding his bike towards us. A Koffing hovered over his shoulder, smoking slightly.

"What?" Ben said rather edgily. He assumed that this guy meant trouble.

The biker noticed Ben's defensive attitude.

"Chill out, dude. I ain't gonna mug you. Are you the ones that they sent to rescue the trapped Pokémon?"

I nodded.

"Good. I'm gonna take you there. Follow me."

He swung his bike around and started pedaling up the road.

Ben and I exchanged glances and followed.

"My name's Lan," he called back to us. "I called about the trapped Pokémon. I tried to get them out, but all I got is my Koffing. He wasn't enough to get the job done."

His presence seemed to have its benefits too. Some of the other tough-looking bikers made to come towards us, but Lan shot them a glance and they backed away. Although Lan looked tough, I got the feeling that he had a good heart.

"So, how are they trapped?" I called.

"Oh, there's this one place where between the bridge and part of Celadon City where there's this big gap. They're stuck down in that gap. Three of them."

We worked our way up the path. Bicycling uphill is hard.

But at last Lan pulled his bike over. We were almost at the top. It was the area where the bridge was just coming over land again. And between the bridge and a building nearby, just as Lan had said, there was a 20 foot drop enclosed on all sides. It was barely longer than I was tall, and it was only about four feet wide. There was a patch of weeds at the bottom. And huddled in that patch of weeds were three bright-eyed Eevee.

I smiled to myself. Three Eevee. Maybe I could keep them. Eevee was one f the few Pokémon I hadn't caught yet. They were supposed to be rare, and I really wanted one.

"I think they've been down there all night," Lan informed us. "We should get them out as soon as possible. They might be getting cold."

"At least they have their friends to snuggle with," I said. "But you're right. I'll get down there."

I let Blossom out of her Pokéball.

"Blossom, I need you to lower me down there. I want to check on them to make sure they're okay."

"Saur, ivy," Blossom agreed. She wrapped both of her vines around my waist. I climbed over the railing and Blossom slowly lowered me down the 20 feet to where the Eevee were all watching me with wide eyes.

It was definitely a narrow bare pit. Those poor things, to have been trapped in here all night. They did look like they were shivering from the ocean gusts.

I landed in the small bit of space there was left. The Eevee watched me, not sure what to make of me.

"It's OK, I assured them. "I'm here to help you." I used my telepathy to show them that I was a friend.

The three of them all stood and ran over to me. I knelt to wrap my arms around them. They were indeed cold. Luckily they had that thick fur coat to help them.

I noticed with interest that each of them had different colored eyes. One had deep blue eyes, one had bright gold eyes, and the other had fiery red eyes.

I scooped them up to warm them against my body for a minute.

"Okay, Blossom," I called. "Bring us up."

Blossom lowered her vines again and wrapped them around me. She slowly hoisted us up.

I started thinking. Ben and I had found a couple evolution stones back when we tried digging for fossils. I could use them to evolve these Eevee. I hugged them closer to me and we finally stepped onto solid ground.

"Are they okay?" Lan asked.

"Yep. They're a bit cold, but I think they'll be fine."

"That's good." He grinned. "They are pretty cute."

His Koffing came down to look at them, but its smelly gas made the Eevee huddle down into my jacket.

Lan laughed. "I guess they wouldn't get along too well with my Koffing."

"I'll take care of them," I promised.

"Ah, good. I'm glad they'll have a good home. Let's go. I'll escort you back to Fuchsia City."


	18. Two Pooka

Ah, yes, I stole Pooka's name from the anime. From the episode with the surfer guy. So I thought I'd better include that. Now, my uncle's a surfer and my Dad used to surf, so I am somewhat justified in using Victor and his Pooka in my story. But what bugged me about that episode was that it was completely wrong. Surfers don't ride on top of the waves! They ride the front of the waves! Sheesh!

Polaris-Ponyta, Leviathan-Gyarados, Pexle-Vulpix, Welly-Poilwag, Jarday-Jolteon, Vaardesh-Vaporeon, Flarga-Flareon.

Two Pooka

So, Ben finally agreed to let Leviathan carry us to Cinnabar Island. And no, Leviathan didn't eat Ben. Although if he did, I wouldn't have had to listen to him complain…

And when we got there, I went a bit crazy. All the evolution stones I found? Well… let's just say I don't have them anymore. Instead, I have a Ninetales, Vaporeon, Jolteon, and Flareon.

Oh yeah. I didn't tell you the names I gave my Eevee. The one with blue eyes I named Vaardesh. He's now a Vaporeon. The one with yellow eyes I named Jarday, and now she's a Jolteon. And the red-eyed Eevee I named Flarga and he's a Flareon.

And not to be outdone. Welly, my Little Poliwag, evolved into a Poliwhirl too.

And while I'm explaining, I'd better add one more detail. I forgot to tell you about my Safari Zone Pokémon. I named my Scyther Skeppy, my Dratini Kaila, and the baby Kangaskhan Kanya.

OK, catch-up complete.

Ben and I headed straight for the Cinnabar Gym and challenged Blaine to a match.

I'll say this. He was tough. It turned into a sort of "battle of the breeds" with Pexle-now a Ninetales-taking on Blaine's Ninetales. It was a close match. Really. Their fire attacks had little effect on each other, so the two of them resorted to physical blows. By the time Pexle beat Blaine's Ninetales, he was exhausted and he promptly lost to the Arcanine Blaine sent out next.

So, not wanting to test my luck, I sent out Leviathan. Needless to say, the fire and water attacks combined to fill the whole room with hot steam, which was good for neither combatant. The steam burnt Leviathan and soaked Arcanine. In the end, it was Leviathan who gave out first and I sent out Polaris. Luckily by then most of the steam had escaped and Arcanine was weak enough that Polaris was able to defeat him at once.

And then Blaine sent out his Rapidash. Oh man, I was really worried about Polaris. It turned into a volley of attacks with Polaris desperately trying to dodge Rapidash's superior attacks and speed. I don't know how she did it, but Polaris flaunted her own speed enough that she made Rapidash dizzy and got her to crash into a wall. Then Polaris went in for the kill. I admit that it wasn't the heat from the flames that made me sweat.

After a visit to the Pokémon center, where I swapped some of my Pokémon, we decided that the best way to cool off after winning our Volcano Badges was to go to the beach.

We flopped on the sand and let all of our Pokémon out.

Polaris, Pooka, Leviathan, Jarday, Vaardesh, and Flarga were all happy to get out and play. Polaris snoozed, recovering from the intense match, as did Leviathan who dozed in the shallows. Pooka and my three Eevee played together in the sand. Ben's Pokémon joined them-His Blastoise (recently evolved), Nidoking, Pidgeot, Arcanine, (all also recently evolved), Tauros, and Chancey.

"Hey, there's people surfing out there," Ben said, pointing out to the waves.

Sure enough, there were. About ten surfers with their brightly colored boards gliding along the fronts of waves. As I watched, one of them shot into a wave that was folding over itself. He sped out the other side jest before the wave crashed.

"That was cool!" Ben exclaimed. "It would be fun to learn to surf."

"It's really hard," I said. "My uncle surfs. He's offered me lessons, actually. But I've never got around to it." As I spoke, I never took my eyes off of the surfer who we'd seen go in the tube. There was something small and yellow on the front of his board.

"I know that guy," I said, nodding to the surfer.

"Huh?" Ben said blankly. "How can you tell? They're so far out there."

"What do you see sitting on the front of his surf board?"

"I can't tell. It looks like…"

"It's a Pikachu. That's Pooka."

"What? But Pooka…" He looked down at my Pikachu who was sitting beside me. He too was staring out towards the surfer and his Pikachu.

"I named Pooka after his Pikachu," I admitted. "His Pikachu can actually sense waves. Isn't that cool?"

"Sense waves?" Ben repeated.

I nodded. "Hey, Leviathan!"

Leviathan raised his huge head to look at me.

"Can you give me a lift out there?"

Leviathan nodded.

"Great, Thanks."

I scooped Pooka up in my arms and jumped onto Leviathan's neck. Leviathan turned and swirled out towards the waves.

As most of the surfers saw us coming, they quickly turned their boards and paddled away from us as fast as they could. I suppose they thought that this was a wild Gyarados. OR they were afraid of Gyarados in general.

The man and his Pikachu seemed to notice that we were coming towards them. They floated there on their surfboard, bobbing on the waves and waiting.

I jumped up on top of Leviathan's head and waved.

"Victor! Hey, Victor!"

It took Victor a moment to recognize me. Then he smiled and waved back.

Leviathan lowered his head as we drew even to Victor and Pooka.

"That's quite a ride you have there," Victor said, gesturing to Leviathan.

As we spoke, the two Pooka sniffed each other and touched tails in greeting.

"What are you doing way out here at Cinnabar Island?" Victor asked.

"I started my Pokémon journey. We just challenged the Cinnabar Gym. And we saw you out here so I came over to say hi. Those are my friends back at the beach." I pointed out to where Ben and my Pokemon were waiting.

"That's great! And did you win your gym match?"

"Yes. Barely. Oh, I need to introduce you to someone. At that moment, Pooka had jumped over onto Victor's board to better meet with his Pooka.

"This is Pooka. I named him after your Pikachu."

Victor laughed. "I see."

"Hey, Pooka," I called.

Both Pikachu looked up at me.

"I guess this is a bit confusing," I admitted. "Well, Victor's Pooka, come here and let me say hi to you! It's been a while!"

Victor's Pooka and my Pooka both jumped onto Leviathan's head. Victor's Pooka was getting a bit old, actually. But he was still sweet and a good surfer. I picked him up and hugged him.

"It's good to see you again. Pooka, meet Pooka!"

The two Pikachu smiled at each other.

I looked back to see Ben riding his Blastoise out to join us. Vaardesh was coming with him.

I waved and I introduced Ben and Victor. We talked for a minute, and then we decided to try Pokémon surfing with Victor. Victor and Pooka set off along the face of one wave. Ben steered Blastoise onto one nearby, holding onto one of Blastoise's cannons for support.

"Let's get him, Leviathan," I said, grinning.

Leviathan nodded and drifted to the back of the wave, directly behind where Ben and Blastoise were. I took a deep breath and held on tight as Leviathan plunged through the wave and came out the other side, ramming into Blastoise and sending Pokémon and rider flying through the air.

Both of them let out terrified cries before they hit the water again, where the wave promptly crashed over their (and our) heads.

Ben's head popped out of the water. He turned on me furiously. "You jerk! What I your problem! You're gonna make us drown!

I grinned guiltily. Beside me, Pooka shook off, spraying me with more water. He too was annoyed at having gotten so wet.

So, I left Pooka with Ben and Blastoise (after they'd cooled down,) and took Vaardesh out with me a little further.

Leviathan particularly enjoyed diving into the waves instead of riding on the surface of them. As long as I took a deep breath, I was okay.

So, as Leviathan charged a wave head-on, I quickly held onto his frill and filled my lungs. Beside me, Vaardesh braced himself.

And we plunged down into the ocean.

I was glad I'd brought a pair of goggles with me, because otherwise I wouldn't have been able to see in the salt water. And I wouldn't have noticed when we came face to face with a Lapras.

I nudged Vaardesh and pointed. He nodded and swam off into the sea, dissolving into water as he used Acid Armor.

_Leviathan! _I called telepathically, _chase the Lapras to the surface! I want to catch it! _

Gyarados nodded and plunged deeper, herding Lapras up to the surface.

We surfaced and I gasped for breath.

Gyarados lunged forwards and tackled Lapras.

And at that moment, Vaardesh appeared directly besides Lapras and used Aurora beam. Lapras cried out and tried to run.

Leviathan twined around to block her path with his long body.

I quickly pulled out a Pokéball, and as Vaardesh used Aurora Beam one last time, I threw the Pokéball.

Laprash vanished in a flash of red light and the Pokéball fell into the water with a small splash. Vaardesh grabbed it in his mouth and brought it back over to me.

I grinned. "Thanks, guys. Nice catch." I took the Pokéball. "I think I'll name her Ferry. Like a ferry boat."

Leviathan turned his head around to look at me. I laughed.

"Don't worry though. She won't replace you."

Leviathan nodded, looking relieved.

I heard someone clapping and turned to see Victor and Pooka floating there. They'd watched the whole thing.

I turned faintly red and scratched my wet head. "Ah, I hadn't caught a Lapras yet," I explained.

Victor nodded. "You like water Pokémon, I see."

"Ah, well, I like ALL Pokémon!"


	19. The Final Badge

OK, so I went back and changed a couple things to help along this part of the story. For example, Cara doesn't' know that Giovanni, the Viridian Gym leader, also leads Team Rocket. Actually… I think that's the main thing I changed. There ya go.

Ah, I spent so much time on Ben's battle! Well, usually I just gloss over his matches so now you get one in more depth.

So, sorry for not updating last week. Lots of stuff to do. And this week you get a REALLY long chapter. And the next chapter should be the exciting grand finale (almost. It's not over yet, but this part should be exciting anyway).

Polaris-Ponyta, Pooka-Pickachu, Blossom-Ivysaur, Charren-Charmeleon, Hurrico-Wartortle, Leviathan-Gyarados

The Final Badge

Ben and I stopped by Aqua Town as we headed back to Viridian City. It was so nice to visit home again and see our families and friends.

Either way, the Pokémon League was approaching. And Ben and I had seven badges. We'd each need one more. And we'd received word that the Viridian Gym leader had returned. So that's where we headed.

After a couple days at home, Ben and I set off again for Viridian City.

As we moved on, we trained like mad. I'd decided most of the Pokémon I'd use. Polaris, of course, Pooka, Hurrico, Blossom, and Charren. But I didn't know who I'd choose for my sixth Pokémon. Since this was the last gym, I'd have to be prepared to use all of my team. But I _couldn't_ decide on the last.

I'd heard that Giovanni used ground Pokémon. So for my last team member, I wouldn't want another fire type, or an electric type. That ruled out Ninetales, Jolteon, and Flareon.

Most of my Pokémon I didn't think were strong enough. I had most of the Pokémon in Kanto, and though I brought them out occasionally, they weren't as strong as my others. These included my Butterfree, Poliwhirl, and Kangaskhan. I didn't think Scyther or Dratini were ready either.

So my logical choices were Gyarados, Vaporeon, Kadabra, and Lapras.

After much debating, I decided to go with Leviathan. He was tough, one of my oldest Pokémon, and good against ground types.

At long last, we reached Viridian City.

Ben and I stared up at the massive, ominous building. I gulped.

"I've heard tough stuff about this guy," Ben muttered.

"Yeah. So, which of us wants to battle first?"

I wasn't looking forward to it. I was nervous. All my reliable sources told me that Giovanni, the Viridian Gym leader, was VERY difficult to defeat.

"Rock, paper, scissors?" I suggested. "Winner gets to go first."

Ben nodded. We put out our fists and made our moves. I tried only half-heartedly and barely noticed as Ben's rock crushed my scissors.

"Sheesh," He muttered, disappointed at his victory. "Okay then. Let's go."

Both of us stepped into the final gym.

We faced the cavernous stadium. It was empty.

"Is anyone here?" Ben shouted.

There was no reply. Ben and I walked slowly into the center of the arena. We paused and looked around.

Then echoing footsteps came to our ears. We looked around to see a man in a black suit walking in from a back door. It swung shut behind him.

There was something about him… he looked familiar thought I couldn't quite figure out why. After a moment I decided that I must have seen his picture somewhere. He was, after all, a gym leader.

"Greetings," he said. "I'm Giovanni, the gym leader here. Though I suppose you know that or you wouldn't be here."

We nodded.

"Yeah, we're here to challenge you," Ben said since I hadn't spoken. For some reason, I had the chills. I figured it was because this was our last gym battle. It was just nerves.

"Are both of you going to fight?" he inquired.

Again, both of us nodded.

"So, which of you will go first?"

"I will," Ben said, not sounding too confident.

I moved back to sit to the side. I absently ran my fingers over Polaris's Pokéball.

I watched, deciding to pay as much attention as I could to Giovanni's style. Again I felt a shiver run down my spine. I shook it off. Trying to focus.

"You may use all of your Pokémon in this battle," Giovanni informed us. As he spoke, he pulled out six Pokéballs. He tossed them out, revealing a Nidoqueen, Nidoking, Rhydon, Persian, Golem, and Rhyhorn.

"These are the Pokémon I'll fight with," Giovanni informed Ben. "Reveal yours."

Ben stood there for a moment before he realized that Giovanni expected him to release his Pokémon as well. He did so, sending out Blastoise, Pidgeot, Nidoking, Kangaskhan, Tauros, and Arcanine.

Giovanni waved his hand and his Rhyhorn thundered forward to stop in the middle of the Arena.

"Go, Blas," Ben said. Blastoise pounded out to face his opponent.

For a moment, the two Pokémon stared each other down. When Giovanni didn't make a move, Ben shouted, "All right then! Hydro Pump!"

Blastoise took a step back and angled his cannons down towards Rhyhorn.

Still Giovanni didn't give an order.

Then Blastoise released a torrent of water from both cannons. At that exact moment, Rhyhorn launched forwards under the gush of water and rammed into Blastoise's stomach.

Blastoise bellowed and reeled backwards. Ben cried out, startled.

Blastoise almost fell over, but caught himself. He looked hurt.

I stared, my mouth hanging open. Blastoise weren't noted for their speed…but Rhyhorn were supposed to be slow! How could it move so fast?

"This is what you're up against, boy," Giovanni said, smirking. "Still want to continue?"

Ben faltered for a moment, looking shocked. Then a determined look set on his face. "Yes," He said firmly.

Giovanni nodded. "Very well then. Your move."

"Okay, Blas! Use _that move!_"

Giovanni nodded in approval. "Smart boy. Not shouting out your strategy for the world to hear."

Blastoise charged forwards and slammed his fist down at his opponent.

Rhyhorn dodged, but Blastoise had already lowered his cannons and blasted Rhyhorn with a flood of water.

Rhyhorn roared and shook off. Then he let out a cry and began to charge forwards.

Blastoise lowered his head as well and launched himself forwards. For a moment, the two powerful Pokémon hurtled towards each other. Then at the last moment Blastoise withdrew into his shell and Rhyhorn collided head-first with the rock-sold shell.

Rhyhorn reeled backwards, staggering from the blow to the head. Blastoise opened his mouth and sent out a stream of bubbles. They struck the target and Rhyhorn collapsed.

Giovanni gave a nod of approval.

"What do you think about that?" Ben said proudly. He was huffing a bit from adrenalin.

"Not bad. Now let's see what you're _really _capable of."

His Rhydon stepped forwards next.

I noticed that Blastoise looked exhausted. Ben should switch him out for a fresh Pokémon!

"Ben," I called.

He turned to see what I as shouting about. I gestured at Blastoise, and he nodded in understanding. He turned back to return his Blastoise, but before he could pull out his Pokéball, Rhydon had charged forwards.

"Ah! Blastoise! Withdraw!"

With no time to act, it was the first thing Ben could think of. Blastoise pulled back into his shell.

Rhydon lowered his head and his horn pierced Blastoise's thick shell. A crack spread across the surface and Blastoise flopped limp from his shell, defeated.

Ben gaped for a moment, not believing that he wasn't even fast enough to return his tired Blastoise. He hung his head and called the defeated Pokémon back.

Shaking, Ben examined his team's lineup.

"All right then. Let's go with something a little more high-flying! Go, Pidgeot!"

Pidgeot crowed and flapped up into the stadium. He circled overhead, examining Rhydon.

"Quick Attack!"

Pidgeot shot downwards and crashed into Rhydon. Rhydon barely flinched. But again, Rhydon didn't attack at first. It just stood there.

And then I realized it. Giovanni's Pokémon had good defense and HP. He could afford to let them take a few hits from heir opponent. And in doing so, he could examine the new Pokémon and let it tire itself out on attacks.

Pidgeot hovered above the battlefield for a moment, not sure what to do.

"Agility!" Ben cried desperately.

Pidgeot began zooming about the field, gaining speed every moment. As he swung low towards Rhydon. The opponent began to rush forwards with Horn Attack.

"Mirror Move!" Ben shouted.

Pidgeot whirled around, using its beak to mimic Horn Attack. The two Pokémon collided. Pidgeot reeled back, dazed.

Rhydon charged forwards, ready to use Stomp.

"Fly!" Ben shouted.

Pidgeot shot up into the air away from the attack and then swooped down at Rhydon.

Rhydown whirled around, caught Pidgeot's wing, and slammed the giant bird into the ground. Pidgeot didn't move again.

Ben returned Pidgeot, looking tense.

"Okay then. Go Kangaskhan!"

Ben's Kangaskhan roared, ready for battle. She charged forwards. The two of them met in the middle of the stadium and began exchanging blows.

"A poor choice," Giovanni said. "Kangaskhan is a parent Pokémon-very protective of the young they keep in their pouch. That is a weakness that is easily exploited."

I winced at thinking that Giovanni would actually attack the baby Kangaskhan. But I wasn't worried. And neither was Ben.

And at that moment, Rhydon used stomp, slamming his foot into Kangaskhan's stomach, over the pouch.

Again I winced at the thought of what might have happened.

But Ben smirked. "On a normal Kangaskhan, maybe. But she isn't normal. You see, Cara has this Kangaskhan's baby. So she can battle all she wants without risking injuring her baby!"

As he spoke, Kangaskhan slammed her fist forwards with Comet Punch. Rhydon reeled back, flinching under the repeated blows. And then she whirled around, putting all of her strength into a Mega Punch. Rhydon toppled over.

Giovanni smirked. "Very good. It takes a talented trainer to get through two of my Pokémon with only three of their own. Now I've had my fun. Things are getting serious. I hope you're prepared."

Nidoqueen stepped forwards. There was a flash of movement. Quite suddenly, Nidoqueen was standing over the fallen Kangaskhan.

It took Ben a moment to even realize what had happened. He stared in disbelief. He hadn't even _seen_ Nidoqueen attack! And already his Kangaslhan was out of the battle.

He clenched his teeth and sent out Arcanine.

Arcanine wildly shot out bursts of flame, but Nidoqueen dodged around most of them. Those that hit did little damage.

Again Nidoqueen stampeded forwards, lowering her head. Arcanine snarled and leapt to the side, using Bite. His teeth sank into Niidoqueen's arm. She paid it little attention, but whirled and sunk her horn into Arcanines side.

Arcanine released his grip with a roar of pain. He sank to the ground, trembling. He'd been poisoned.

Ben returned Arcanine, trembling with disbelief. Giovanni was so strong!

Tauros came out next. He charged forwards with Takedown and sent Nidoqueen flying. Tauros fell on her with his hooves, but a moment later, Nidoqueen had knocked his hooves out from under him and beat him to submission.

Ben was down to his last Pokémon, and he'd only defeated two of Giovanni's. And Ben was far from weak.

Looking defeated, Ben sent out his Nidoking.

Nidoqueen was already exhausted, and it only took a moment for Ben's Nidoking to defeat it. But a moment later, Giovanni had sent out his own Nidoking.

The two matching Pokémon rushed towards each other and locked claws. For a minute the two of the wrestled with each other. Then Giovanni's Nidoking swung his tail around and slammed it into Ben's Nidoking's head, dazing him. A moment later, Ben's last Pokémon was on the ground, defeated by his opponent's blows.

Ben stood there, trembling. His shaking hand raised to return his last Pokémon. He stepped slowly over to the bleachers on the opposite side of the stadium that I was sitting on. I watched him, torn between feeling sorry for Ben and shock at Giovanni's power.

Giovanni returned his Pokémon. He looked up at me.

"Give me a moment to heal my Pokémon. I'll me with you in a minute."

He headed to the back door again, leaving Ben and I alone in the gym.

Ben looked devastated. His head hung low into his hands and I could see him trembling even from over here.

I knew that he didn't want to talk to me, but I wished I could do something to make him feel better.

I had a hollow feeling in my stomach myself. I was nervous. More so than I'd been for any other battles.

A minute later, Giovanni returned through that same door. Again he sent out his Pokémon.

I walked down to face him.

I sent out my team as well: Ponyta, Gyarados, Pikachu, Charmeleon, Ivysaur, and Wartortle.

I looked at them for a moment, trying to decide who to send out first.

Suddenly, bright light filled the stadium. I blinked and shaded my eyes. Through the gaps in my fingers, I saw Blossom, Charren, and Hurrico. They were glowing. Growing! As I watched, all three of them evolved! A moment later, Charizard, Venusaur and Blastoise were standing there, looking determined to fight.

I slowly grinned and turned back to Giovanni. "Okay. _Now _I'm ready."

Giovanni gestured and his Nidoking stepped forwards again.

"Char," I said. Charren stomped forwards, fanning her new wings and opening her jaw wide to shoot out an experimental jet of flame.

_Okay, _I thought, using my telepathy. _Don't let his Pokémon build up too much momentum. They don't have many special attacks, I don't think. Their strength seems to depend on momentum! _

Charren nodded, looking quite ready for a new battle.

_Now all of you, _I added quickly to the rest of my Pokémon. _Giovanni is stronger than any other trainer we've faced. Don't be put out if you faint. Just weaken them as much as you can in the time you have! _

And barely before I finished talking to them, Nidoking charged.

Charren stood her ground and just as Nidoking was almost upon her, she locked claws with her opponent and the two of them stood there locked in a temporary stalemate. They pushed against each other.

_During Ben's match, Nidoking used his tail to hit his opponent! _I warned. _So watch out! _

Quite suddenly, Nidoking leapt backwards, making Charren cry out and collapse as the reverse tug-of-war backfired.

Nidoking moved to trample Charren, but my Charizard was quick. She flicked her tail out and knocked Nidoking back. Then she scrambled to her feet and rushed up into the air.

_Attack from a distance! _

She nodded and swooped down to send a jet of flame at Nidoking.

Nidoking turned so his tough plated back deflected most of the fire.

"Keep at it!" _He can't take that buildup of heat for too long! _

Charren made another pass and sent out more flame.

Suddenly Nidoking ripped a hunk out of the floor of the gym and hurled it at Charren.

Charren flapped wildly to dodge, but lost altitude as she did so.

Nidoking shot out needles of Poison Sting that struck Charren.

My attack plan wasn't working.

"Charren! Return!"

Charren landed heavily beside the rest of my team, panting.

"Go, Pooka!"

I'd go for small size and speed.

"Agility!"

Pooka began to dart back and forth in a blur. Nidoking watched and soon became dizzy.

_Go now! Feint! _

Pooka darted in towards Nidoking and just as Nidoking was about to counter, Pooka dodged away again.

_Start charging. Do it now. _

Sparks started gathering at Pooka's cheeks.

Giovanni noticed. It would make him think that my next attack would be the real thing.

_Again!_

Once more Pooka darted in as if to attack. And once more Nidoking went to attack. But in half a moment, Pooka had circled around behind Nidoking and released the charged energy.

Nidoking roared in pain and doubled over. Static rippled across its armor. We'd paralyzed him.

"Thunder!"

Pooka leapt into the air and released another blast of electricity. This time Nidoking fell in defeat.

Giovanni returned Nidoking and sent out Rhydon.

I called Pooka back and sent out Blossom.

I noticed that sunlight was streaming in through one of the windows. I smiled to myself.

Blossom rustled the petals of her huge flower in response.

Rhydon charged forwards, but Blossom blocked the attack with her vines. She slashed at Ryhdon with the vines, making him flinch and back away. As he did so, Blossom backed slowly towards the light from the windows.

Suddenly Rhydon slammed his feet down on the ground, making the stadium rumble with Earthquake. Venusaur bellowed and staggered sideways. She collapsed on the ground.

Giovanni smirked. "Did you think I wouldn't notice your Venusaur heading towards the light? All I needed to do was wait until you got there and let your guard down."

"Actually," I said, smiling slightly, "I _knew_ you knew. We've been charging our attack this whole time! Go!"

Blossom angled her flower down and let out a tremendous burst of pure light energy. Rhydon screamed and reeled backwards under the raw power of the sun.

"Impressive," Giovanni agreed, nodding. "But we're not done yet."

Rhydon took only a moment to gather the last of his strength. Unfortunately Blossom had used too much energy to dodge quickly enough . And I wasn't fast enough to give orders because I thought that Solar Beam would have been enough to defeat the Rhydon.

Horn Drill struck the target and Blossom fell in defeat.

"Hurrico!"

As I returned Blossom, Blastoise stomped out next.

He began shooting Hydro Pump almost at random. If he hit Rhydon once or twice, it was no more than accident. But it achieved the goal of slowing Rhydon down and keeping him away.

But that wasn't all it was accomplishing. I smiled to myself and ordered Hurrico to continue the attacks.

After a minute of constant water spraying, Hurrico was out of water. His cannons were empty. I quickly returned him and sent Leviathan out.

Leviathan slid easily over the slick, wet floor and reared back, ready to use Hyper Beam.

At that moment, Rhydon stomped onto the gym floor again to use Earthquake, but sank into the soaked floor. Stuck knee-deep in mud, he was unable to dodge the full-force Hyper Beam. And at last Rhydon was down.

Giovanni sent out Persian next.

I paused, not sure why Giovanni thought such a Pokémon would be any use against Leviathan. Too late, I realized that Persian was sparking. And suddenly Persian released a powerful Thunder.

I stared dumbstruck as Leviathan fell to the ground. The water that covered the floor had let the electricity travel much faster than usual. It was too much for Leviathan. I sent out Pooka next.

Persian lashed out with her claws and Pooka sent sparks back at her.

Persian suddenly let out a high-pitched shriek that made Pooka flinch and curl up to cover his ears. Persian leapt forwards and sent Pooka flying with a slash of her claws.

With Pooka defeated as well, I sent out Charren again.

But to my complete shock, Charren didn't even get in one hit before Persian's Thunder brought her down as well. I was down to Polaris and Hurrico. And Hurrico's water cannons were empty.

I sent Blastoise out anyway, but Giovanni returned Persian and sent out Golem.

Blastoise rushed forwards to attack with Skull Bash. With his water gone, he could only use physical attacks. Giovanni knew this. Golem began to glow, and with a mighty explosion, he blew up and sent Hurrico tumbling onto his back.

Both Golem and Hurrico were defeated.

Giovanni had three Pokémon left and all I had was Polaris. And she had the disadvantage to Giovanni's ground Pokémon.

Giovanni sent out Nidoqueen. Polaris filled the room with Fire Spin, but the flames didn't do much damage to the poison/ground type. Nidoqueen wasn't able to get close to the fast Polaris, so had to resort to Poison Sting. Polaris dodged most of these, but some of them hit her. And they were taking their toll. As she dodged around, shooting out flames, her movements became slower and slower. Eventually she paused, head hung to the ground, gasping for breath. The flames of her mane and tail sputtered weakly. She was at her last gasp. There was no way she could defeat Nidoqueen, Persian, and Dugtrio. Especially when two of them were almost at full health.

Giovanni smirked as he saw that one last attack would finish Polaris off.

Just as he raised his hand to signal the finishing blow, the doors at the back of the gym swung open and a woman ran out.

She jogged up to Giovanni, whispered something in his ear, and ran back through the doors.

Giovanni quickly returned all of his Pokémon, leaving me standing there with my arm half raised towards Polaris.

Giovanni strode quickly over to us. He placed something in my half-open hand and then went over and handed something to Ben. I stared down at the Earth badge in my palm.

"But we didn't win. Neither of us," I blurted.

"You didn't defeat all of my Pokémon, no. But I never told you that you had to. All I said was that you could use all of your Pokémon. The requirements for the gym badges are to defeat three of my Pokémon. You have done that. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have just received word of some very pressing business."

Without another word, he turned and vanished through the back door.

I stared after him, completely baffled. As the door swung shut behind him, something caught my eye. There was a man walking past the door just as Giovanni let it swing shut. Something about that other man…

"Well," Ben said, "I don't feel like I deserve this badge at all. He should have told us that we only needed to defeat three of his team!"

I wasn't paying attention. That other man behind the door had been wearing a Team Rocket uniform.


	20. Raiding Team Rocket

Polaris-Ponyta, Kinesis-Kadabra

Raiding Team Rocket

We headed towards the Pokémon Center after our battle. Our Pokémon desperately needed healing after their destruction in the gym match.

"I think I understand what he did," Ben said thoughtfully.

I wasn't paying much attention. My fist was clenched tightly. I'd forgotten I was still holding the badge and the edges of the metal feather were cutting into my fingers.

"I bet he did it to see how far we could go. I guess he's such a good trainer that he knows he can't lose so he just tells the challengers to go as far as they can and they only need to defeat three of his team to earn the badge."

"Or he was trying to get us out of the way."

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Because he said he needed to do something important? Would he really just give us the badges to get rid of us?"

"If he's part of Team Rocket."

Ben stopped walking. "What?"

"As that back door opened, I saw someone in a Team Rocket uniform. And now I know why I recognized Giovanni. He was that man at the Lavender Town Pokémon Tower. He was that man who escaped with his Nidoking. Giovanni is the leader of Team Rocket."

Ben stared at me. He gave a low whistle. "I think you're right. We didn't get to see his face too clearly that night at the Pokémon Tower. And it was a long time ago too. I guess that's why he didn't recognize us either. But I was thinking that I recognized his voice. Man. Who would have thought that Viridian Gym belonged to Team Rocket?"

"Which means that they're also after Mew."

I took off my pack and showed Ben the burnt sheet of data I'd taken from the wrecked game corner.

"But this looks like they want to re-create Mew!" Ben exclaimed after reading what was left of the text.

I nodded. "Yes. If they can catch Mew, they'd use her in an experiment to create an even stronger copy."

"Then it's a good thing that Mew rarely shows up, huh?"

"But he said he had something very important to do. That's why he kicked us out. I wonder… does it have anything to do with Mew?"

Ben shrugged. "Hard to tell."

"We could break in."

Ben stared at me.

"Oh come _on_! You've had some crazy ideas, but breaking into Team Rocket's headquarters! That's just plain stupid! Especially since he _destroyed_ us in that gym match!"

"Keep walking, Ben. Let's heal our Pokémon."

So, after dark, Ben and I returned to the Viridian Gym.

"This is an official Pokémon gym," Ben whispered to me. "Anything they have here will have to be very well hidden to avoid detection."

"Luckily I got my secret weapon," I said, twirling a Pokéball on my finger.

"Then let him out already!"

I released Kinesis from his Pokéball.

"Hey, I need you to teleport inside and find out where Team Rocket is. They're hiding somewhere in this building."

Kadabra nodded and disappeared as he teleported.

"We should steal some uniforms too," Ben said.

I nodded.

We waited in the shadows for Kinesis to return. A few minutes later, he reappeared.

"You found it! Good! Take us in. Somewhere where we won't be seen. We can't appear in the middle of a crowded room or anything."

Kinesis nodded and used Teleport.

Ben, Kadabra and I all found ourselves standing in what appeared to be a storage room. Boxes of supplies lined the walls and filled shelves.

"What do you think is in them?" Ben asked.

I went over and pulled out my pocketknife to slit one of the boxes open. It was full of empty Pokéballs. The next few held radios and other electric equipment. Then we found some with neatly folded clothes.

"Are these Team Rocket Uniforms?" Ben asked.

"No. Look! These are police uniforms! Disguises! I guess if any of them ever need to pose as a cop or something. Oh, this box has Team Rocket uniforms. They're for girls though. You'll need to find one for yourself," I said to Ben.

I ducked behind a shelf to put on the stolen uniform, returning Kinesis as I did so. When I'd changed, I took a duffle bag from another box to hide my pack in. Ben had just put his uniform on over his clothes.

"I hope they don't ask for ID or anything," he muttered, straightening his shirt. "Ah, Cara… I think you're kinda short to pass as someone from Team Rocket."

I stared at Ben. I wasn't short for my age, but then I wasn't very old. I wasn't even 11. Ben at least was tall enough to pass for a short adult.

"Well, then what do I do?" I demanded.

"High heels?" Ben suggested.

I smacked him on the shoulder. "Don't be stupid!"

"And don't shout! They'll hear us. You'll just have to hope no one notices you. We'll try to keep out of sight as much as possible. Hand me one of those duffle bags to put my stuff in."

Once we looked reasonably evil, Ben and I peeked out into the hall. It was all clear so we cautiously emerged.

For several minutes we stepped lightly through the halls, searching for anything useful. We didn't see many people. If we heard someone coming, we'd duck through the nearest door. If there wasn't a door, then we tried to look like we belonged there and let the person pass by us. Luckily no one seemed to notice anything.

After several minutes of pacing dark hallways, we heard voices. A lot of them.

Ben pulled me to the side of a doorway and we peered into the room.

Jackpot. There were several people milling around inside. The far wall was taken up by computer screens. The largest picture on the screen was something that made me tense up. It was an image of Mew. It looked like it as a video that was paused on one image. There were several people on Team Rocket uniforms in the image, and they were undoubtedly trying to catch Mew. One of them had a net tat he was about to throw, but Mew was too high above to be caught by it.

A shiver ran down my spine. Had they caught her?

Ben nudged me and pointed. I followed his gaze. There was Giovanni, standing near one of the computers. He looked like he was in a very bad mood.

"Then what other options do we have?" He burst out angrily. Ben and I jumped. "We finally get evidence that Mew is alive, and you _fools_ let her escape!"

He was speaking to a woman I recognized. She was the one who had captured us at Mount Moon several months ago. Deena, I think her name was.

"Well," She replied haughtily, "we could have gotten there sooner if you weren't in a gym battle with those two losers."

"I'm a licensed Gym leader!" Giovanni snarled. "I need to show up at the gym at least occasionally! Stop arguing with me and figure out a way to keep Mew from escaping next time!"

"Yes sir," she replied with feigned obedience. "I would if you would stop shouting at me."

So, the reason Giovanni left or battle was because they'd seen Mew. And it sounded like they'd waited for him to arrive before they tried to catch her. And whatever they tried had failed. It sounded like she'd teleported away. Good for her. Hopefully she'd be careful about being seen again.

Giovanni punched a button on the computer screen again and the video of Mew's attempted capture began to play from the frozen image.

Ben and I watched as Mew easily dodged Team Rocket's capture devices and finally teleported away. Giovanni started the tape over and watched it again, studying Mew's style. I got the feeling that he'd watched it several times already. They must have just gotten back from their hunt. Our gym match had been later in the evening, and the failed hunt must have taken some time.

"Imagine," Giovanni muttered. He was across the room, so I could barely make out what he was saying. "Mew is so powerful already… if we could catch it… That research we've been doing on cloning… to make a creature even stronger than Mew!"

"Hey!"

Ben and I whirled around. There was a man standing behind us, glowering. "What do you think you're doing, lurking back here? Get in there and don't block the doorway!"

So Ben and I stepped into the room. A few people looked up to see what the commotion was about, but no one said anything.

My stomach churned horribly as we stepped into the room full of Team Rocket thugs.

We kept our faces turned away from Giovanna and Deena. They might recognize us. We kept to the edge of the room, trying to loop back to the door to get out and escape.

I was so tense that I was sure someone would notice. Someone bumped past me, making me flinch.

"Hey, shorty" said a mocking voice. "I didn't know we was taking on rookies. Or are you someone's kid?"

Before I could stop myself, I looked up into the face of the lady who was talking to me. She was the woman who had come in during our gym battle to give Giovanni the message.

"Hey-what?" she said, confused. She recognized me too, but it took her a moment to register what my presence meant. I stood there stupidly, staring up at her.

Luckily Ben's head was working better than mine. He grabbed my arm and hauled me to the door just as the woman registered why she knew my face. She shouted and pointed.

By then I got my feet working and Ben and I fled into the hall. As we ran, I shuffled in my bag and grabbed my Kadabra's Pokéball.

"Kinesis!" I gasped breathlessly. "Get us out of here!"

I released him and he used teleport. We watched with relief as the hallway vanished from around us and we appeared next to the Viridian City Pokémon Center.

"We shouldn't stop here," Ben said. "It's too obvious. They'd come looking for us. Let's get out of town!"

I released Polaris and Ben, Kinesis and I quickly got on her back. She took off at a gallop down the road towards Viridian Forest.

Only when we were at least a mile from the Pokémon Center did we slow. Polaris trotted off of the trail until we were reasonably sure that we were far from danger.

"Well, we'll have to be careful where we go now," Ben muttered grumpily as I returned Polaris and Kinesis.

Ben slammed his bag down on the ground. "Damn! We've just angered a powerful organization like Team Rocket! They know we broke in on purpose. We were even wearing their uniforms and listening in about Mew! They're gonna be after us! We should go to the police! That's what we should do. Oh jeez! Why did we go in there anyway? What did we gain? _Why do I listen to you?"_

I sighed and sank to the ground against a tree. "I'm sorry, Okay? I… didn't think it would turn out this way."

"No, but it did. And now we got them after us. We should get to the police station right now!" Ben furiously tore the Team Rocket uniform off and threw it onto the ground.

"Wait a minute, Ben. Giovanni is a gym leader. They'd never take our word over his. And he'd have all that gear hidden away where the police wouldn't be able to find it. He's not stupid. And besides, we teleported in. We don't even know where the entrance to that place is! And we also know they're after Mew. Most people don't even believe that she exists. They wouldn't believe that either. And they're trying to make a copy of Mew. A super-powered Mew… It's all to far-fetched for the police to believe."

"So what do you suggest?" Ben demanded. "To just go to Team Rocket and surrender?"

I was startled by Ben's reaction. He was usually so peaceful. I mean, he complained sometimes, but I rarely ever saw him angry like this.

"Well… no. But let's at least wait till morning so we can… think of something."

We sat there for a minute until I pulled out my sleeping bag and stretched it on the forest floor. Ben followed suit after fuming a minute longer. I noticed that he set it as far away from me as the trees would allow.

"Shoot… I'm sorry Cara," Ben said a few minutes later. "I'm just… scared. You saw how powerful Giovanni was. He creamed us! We don't stand a chance against him. And on top of that, he has a lot of minions under him, and he's a gym leader. I just… don't know what to do."

"Ah, I know. I'm… scared too."

"But let's wait to talk till morning. Good night."

"Good night."

I didn't sleep well that night.

When I opened my eyes in the morning, I found another pair of eyes only inches from mine. I let out a cry of fright and sat bolt upright, bumping heads with the thing that had been staring me in the face.

It drifted backwards and looped in a circle. Meanwhile, Ben was flailing wildly, trying to extricate himself from his sleeping bag to see why I'd shouted.

"Ah, you!" I exclaimed. The thing that had been staring me in the face was none other than Mew. "You're going to give me a heart attack if you do that!"

Mew giggled playfully.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked the floating pink Pokémon. "I heard that Team Rocket tried to catch you! They didn't hurt you, did they?"

Mew shook her head.

_Nope! They're fools! They don't know how to handle a Pokémon as great as me! _

I shut my eyes for a moment. It was the first time I'd spoken with Mew through telepathy.

"Okay. Well, anyway, you be careful. They're still hunting you. And they'll have learned from their last mistake."

Meanwhile Ben had freed himself from his sleeping bag and was staring at Mew.

"She's back!" He exclaimed.

I nodded. "And I think they're after us too," I continued. "So it probably isn't smart to hang around here."

Mew shook her head. _That's why I'm here. To look out for you! _

I smiled. "That's very nice of you, Mew. I'm just worried that if you're with us you're more likely to be caught. But I'm sure you can take care of yourself."

_Yep!_

I pulled an apple out of my pack and handed it to her. She snatched it and hovered a few feet away, happily crunching at it.

"We really should try to get farther away from Viridian City. Either that, or get to the police station," Ben sighed. "But I'd feel safer going to the police."

"Yeah. Whatever we do… should be soon . The Pokémon league is coming up. We can't miss that."

"I suppose. Though Team Rocket knows that's where we're headed. Otherwise we wouldn't have challenged the gym."

"So we'll just have to solve all this before then."

I stood up and stretched. I rolled up my sleeping bag and packed everything in my bag. Mew curled up on top of it and snoozed.

I watched her for a minute. She'd never been around for more than a minute. Would she really stay longer this time? I was touched that she wanted to protect us. And her presence made me feel safer. It's hard to _not_ feel safe with a Pokémon who can teleport, transform, use every single move, and on top of that is considered to be the most powerful Pokémon in the world.

I stepped behind a tree to change out of my pajamas. When I was done I started to step back, something flashed in front of me and pressed against my throat.

I though it was a sword. Someone had a sword at my neck! Panic built inside of me, but I dare not move. A frightened squeak escaped my lips.

Ben leapt to his feet, startling Mew awake. The two of them stared at me in shock.

I turned my eyes enough to see what had me. It wasn't' a sword. It was a Scyther. And standing beside me was Deena, the woman from Team Rocket.

"So, what do you know," she said. "The girl and boy are here with Mew! Killing three birds with one stone!"

Several Gastly and Haunter materialized around me, followed by a Gengar. I tensed. Mew was weak to ghost types.

"You know," Deena said, stepping around to look at me. "You look familiar. Where do I know you from?" She glanced back and forth from Ben to me several times. "Oh, I got it! You were at Mount Moon! Who would have thought you would end up causing so much trouble! And being so useful too! To lead us to Mew!"

Several other Team Rocket members stepped out behind me. One of them tied my hands behind my back and the Scyther lowered its blade arm.

"Now," said Deena, "listen carefully you all. Don't move."

_Mew! _I cried with my telepathy. _Don't listen to her! Take Ben and get out of here! Don't worry about me! _

Mew looked at me anxiously. She didn't want to leave me.

_Go! Go now!" _

"If you want to keep the girl alive…" Deena started. But she broke off with a furious yell as Ben and Mew and my bag with my Pokéballs all teleported away.

For one moment, my eyes locked with Ben. He realized that Mew had to leave me behind, but before he could protest, he and Mew had vanished, leaving me alone in the hands of Team Rocket.

Deena faced me, screaming furiously. I turned my face away from her, though I couldn't move because someone was still behind me, holding me still.

When Deena saw that her shouts weren't having any effect on me, she turned to the man behind me.

"Get her out of here."

I looked up to glare at her, but suddenly something struck the back of my head and I knew no more.

"_Search the forest!" Deena screamed to the others. "Find them!" _

_Giovanni stepped up and placed his hand on her arm. A smile spread across his face. "That won't be necessary, Deena. Capturing Mew just got a whole lot easier." _


	21. The Impenetrable Bubble

The Impenetrable Bubble

Ooooowwww It hurt. My head hurt. A lot. It was the first thing I was aware of. That pounding, throbbing pain at the back of my head.

My thoughts were fuzzy. It took me a while to put things together. They must have hit me on the head and knocked me out.

I slowly opened my eyes. Again, it took me a moment to figure out what was going on. I was staring at the ground because my head was flopped down over my chest. I was leaning back against something. A wall? I tried to move my arms, but found that they were still tied behind my back.

I slowly raised my head, wincing as pain flashed through my skull.

There were people. A lot of people milling around a cleared out area. The clearing was surrounded by walls. I had no idea where it was though. It took a moment for my brain to notice that they all the people were from Team Rocket.

I cursed under my breath. What were they doing? And why did they toss me back in a corner like this?

There was a loud thud to my right. I turned to see a Nidoking glaring down at me. I flinched as it took another stomping step towards me. It was Giovanni's Nidoking.

This fact was confirmed when Giovanni himself appeared from somewhere.

"Ah. I see you're awake. Good. Just in time."

"What dya want with me?" I said, my speech slightly slurred.

"I suppose I'd better get straight to the point then," Giovanni replied, pacing over to his Nidoking. "Before you pass out again. Where is Mew?"

I gave a small snort which I instantly regretted with my head throbbed again. I winced and waited for the pain to subside. "You want to know about Mew? Fine. I'll tell you. Not that it will do you any good. Mew has shown up barely a couple times to steal apples from me. There ya go. I don't know where she lives, what she does, or why she seems to like my apples so much, but there ya go. Are you gonna try to lure her into a neat little trap with a basket of apples? Cause I really doubt it will work."

It wasn't entirely true, obviously, but I really didn't have anything useful to tell him. No matter what he thought.

"She was there when we found you," Giovanni snapped.

I shrugged. "I don't know. She's never stuck around that long."

I suddenly remembered with a lurching feeling that Mew had said she wanted to look out for me. She wouldn't dare come here to find me, would she? Though she could probably teleport me out of here before any of these guys knew what was going on. I had mixed feelings about the topic. Coming here would be dangerous for her, even if she might be able to rescue me.

Nidoking swished his tail, kicking dust into my eyes.

"And you snuck into our lab to see the Mew data. And you were also there at the Pokémon Tower. I didn't recognize you yesterday, but now I do. And Deena said she even saw you at Mount Moon. You have been running into us too often for it to be coincidence. I want to know WHY!"

I flinched and my head pulsed painfully again. "Well, too bad. Cause it _is_ coincidence. I want to keep away from you freaks as much as possible. And I don't know any more about Mew than you do. All I know is that I'm not going to let you catch her. And I _will not _let you make an evil clone of her."

I immediately knew I'd said the wrong thing. An ugly look crept across Giovanni's face.

"Where did you hear about that?"

I opened and shut my mouth a couple times. My pounding skull was making it hard to think, and I'd said the wrong thing already.

Giovanni took a menacing step towards me.

I struggled to get my feet under me. I pushed myself back against the wall and slid to my feet. Now at least I wasn't completely helpless on the ground, even if my arms were still tied.

"TELL ME!" Giovanni snarled.

I tried to turn away, shivering with fright.

With a vicious gesture, Giovanni signaled his Nidoking.

Before I could react, Nidoking swung his powerful arm around and his rock-hard fist collided with the side of my head, his claw raking my cheek.

With a cry of pain, I was hurled to the ground. The painful landing knocked the wind out of me. Lights winked in front of my eyes and pain swirled through my head.

I gasped in the dust for a moment, trying to regain my senses. I didn't want to move. I wanted to stay sprawled on the earth. But I knew I couldn't.

I slowly, very slowly, inched my way up to a sitting position again. I let my head hang towards the ground. I felt something warm and sticky on my cheek. Blood. The back and sides of my head hurt so bad. It was all I could do to keep from crying.

"Now," said Giovanni with forced calm, "where did you hear that?"

"When… when we were in that room. I heard you say something about making a stronger Mew." I didn't think it would be a good idea to mention their hideout behind the game corner.

Giovanni smirked. "And you figured that out from that one little sentence, did you? Well, that really is too bad. Since you know about that, I won't be able to let you go."

I shut my eyes as tight as I could.

_Help. _

I didn't want to remain on the ground, but I wasn't sure I could stand up again. And besides, if I stood, I'd fall harder if I was attacked again. Then again, down here Nidoking might be able to do more damage to me. Neither optioned seemed like it would help me out. What could I do? I felt completely helpless.

"Now, think carefully. Is there anything else you want to tell me?"

I didn't reply.

"Well, either way, I think I'll let you think about your situation for a few minutes. Perhaps you can remember something helpful. Something that might make me feel a bit more merciful."

He turned and strode away. Nidoking remained to glare down at me if I tried anything.

_What do I do? _I thought feebly. _What am I supposed to do? I have to do something! _

_Just wait. _

I blinked. I knew that voice.

I flinched as Nidoking shifted. I peeked up to see what he was doing.

He was swaying. His eyelids were drooping. Then his eyes shut and he slumped back against the wall, fast asleep. No one else in the field noticed.

I stared in bewilderment. He'd just fallen asleep?

Then from behind Nidoking, a small shape appeared. I gasped. Mew!

_You're here! You came! _

_Of course! I said I'd watch over you! _

_We have to hurry and get out of here! It's not safe for you! _

_Or for you. What happened to you? It looks like you're starting to get a bruise on the side of your head. _

I flinched. _Yeah. Come on. Get me out of here. I can get untied later. Use Teleport. _

For a moment, Mew hovered there. A surprised expression settled on her face. She tried to focus. And then she began to look rather frightened.

_I can't! I can't teleport! _

_WHAT! _

_Something's stopping me! I can't use Teleport! _

I cursed to myself. I understood now. They'd used me as bait because they suspected that Mew might try to find me. And they'd somehow set up barriers preventing Mew from teleporting out, while she could teleport in.

_Get out of here! _I hissed. _Fly out before they know you're here! _

_But… _

_Don't worry about me! Tell Ben where I am! He'll bring help! But you have to get out of here! _

Mew hesitated. _I'd feel bad leaving you here… _

_I know but… Aah! _

A dark haze appeared in the air around Mew. It solidified and formed into a blue bubble completely surrounding her. It was just over a foot in diameter so her frantic struggling was very limited.

I cried out and lunged towards the bubble. The only thing that succeeded in was making me tip over and fall onto my face again. I wriggled wildly, trying to sit up. I flipped around just in time to see sparks shoot out of the bubble.

Mew squealed in pain as the shocking sparks struck her. She curled up in pain, and when the shocks subsided, she dropped to the bottom of the bubble and lay there limply.

I shouted, and pushed myself towards her again. But someone reached out and took Mew's bubble in his hands. Giovanni.


	22. Dream Hill

So, the last chapter I updated was in the midst of finals. I just got out of my last final today, so I'm very excited for winter break. Aah, at last!

So, I actually wrote this whole section from when Cara woke up to find herself trapped to the end of the battle that's approaching (you'll see what I mean in the next chapter! Hahah! Feel the curiosity build! Just kidding!) in one go during finals when my brain couldn't focus on important stuff anymore. But it was really long so I had to break it up into 3 chapters. But I'll update them quicker than usual now that I'm out of class. So here's the next chapter.

Remember that corny dream she had in the first chapter (or maybe it was the second)? Well, it wasn't just plain randomness. It had a purpose. And I'll probably make it show up again if I remember to. Either way, I'll shut up now.

Polaris-Ponyta. Kinesis-Kadabra, Charren-Charizard, Hurrico-Blastoise, Blossom-Venusaur, Leviathan-Gyarados, Pooka-Pikachu

Dream Hill

I glared at Giovanni in fury. I wanted to scream something at him, but I couldn't think of anything bad enough to say.

"Ah, so you turned out to be useful after all," Giovanni said with a smirk. "I hoped Mew would feel noble enough to try to free you. Looks like I was right."

"You-" I started screaming and swearing at him, but he ignored me. He walked away from me, taking the unconscious Mew still in her bubble. He set the bubble on top of a strange tall box-like device that stood in the middle of the clearing. Mew's bubble hovered above the box, held in place by some strange force field.

The other men and women from Team Rocket let out a cheer. They all scrambled to get to their positions for some unpleasant procedure.

I had to stop them! I had to do _something! _

I shifted my attention to the ropes binding my hands. They weren't ropes but sturdy cords made of a strange, slick material. I tested them, trying to slip free, but it was useless. They were tied too tightly.

My thoughts settled on something. It seemed so hopeless and far away. But it was my only hope.

Back when I was in Fuchsia City, Sabrina had given me a lesson in telepathy. I'd asked her then if I had any other psychic talents. She'd told me that she doubted it. Or if I did, they were probably too weak to be of any use. But maybe, just maybe, telepathy wasn't the only thing I could do. Maybe some other talent was hidden back there. Something that I only needed to find. Some talent that only panic would bring about.

I shut my eyes and tried to focus. It was incredibly difficult because with every beat of my heart, my whole head throbbed painfully.

I concentrated as hard as I could on the cords that bound my hands. I willed them to shift. To loosen.

_Please let it work. Please. _

For several minutes I focused every ounce of my mind on those cords. Then, to my astonishment, I felt them shift. I intensified the focus on them and rotated my arms to try to help. I pulled as hard as I could with mind and body, but in the end my focus slipped and I sat there gasping as sweat drip down my face. It hadn't worked. The cords were too tight. Whatever telekinetic powers I had weren't trained enough to untie knots as tight as these. It wouldn't work.

_Please. Help. Help me. Help us. _I pleaded with all my heart, reaching out with the one skill I knew I could use, even if it was still weak. I pleaded for someone to listen.

_Please… hear me… _

A dream? Is this a dream? Am I asleep?

_I gazed out over a strange, hazy landscape. I was on top of a hill. The colors were oddly muted. _

I think… I've been here before. A long time ago.

_Some of the haze lifted and I saw them again. It was the same dream I'd had the day I met Polaris. I was alone on this strange hill. Just before I'd met Mew for the first time. Below me was what appeared to be statues. They were arranged so that some were very far away from me, and some were closer. Four of them were half way up the hill--closer to me than the others. And though the colors were dull tans and grays, I definitely recognized the closest figure resting motionless in mid air. It was Mew. _

_I wanted to move closer to the Mew statue, which was just over ten feet away. But my feet wouldn't move. So I focused my attention to the three statues behind Mew's. _

_They were three large birds. I'd seen pictures of them before. I knew what they were called. Articuno, Zapdos ,and Moltres. They all looked as though they were in the middle of taking flight. Their wings were spread and their heads were pointed skywards. _

"_Mew," I said. My voice echoed strangely in the strange landscape. "Mew needs help. Can you help her?" _

_It felt like a very long time passed. I stood there alone on the strange hill watching the three legendary birds. I stared harder as I noticed something shift. It took me a moment to realize what was happening. They were moving. Very slowly. Their wings were gliding upwards in extreme slow motion as though they were trying to fly. But that wasn't the only thing. They were darkening. Colors slowly spread along their feathers. And as the reds, yellows, and blues slowly crept along their bodies, their motions sped up. The spread of the colors and the movements of their wings accelerated so that by the time they burst into full color, their wings pumped effortlessly and they all shot up into the air and disappeared into the sky. I watched them in awe a moment longer. _

_The vision faded. _

And then I opened my eyes. I released a breath that I felt like I had been holding for nearly a minute. I gulped up fresh air and looked around me.

It didn't look as though any time had passed. Mew was still imprisoned in the blue bubble, unconscious. Giovanni was standing beside her, looking triumphant. They were in the midst of celebrating their success. I hoped they wouldn't do anything to her any time soon.

I turned my eyes hopefully to the sky, expecting to see Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres swooping down to save the day.

The sky was empty.

I moaned and dropped my head. It had only been a dream, after all.

Something tapped my left elbow. I flinched and drew away. When I realized that nothing was hurting me, I turned to see what it was.

An Alakazam? What…

"Kinesis?" I whispered.

The Alakazam nodded.

_But… you were a Kadabra! You evolved! _

Kinesis nodded again.

_Ah! Hey listen! You won't be able to teleport out of here! You're trapped! _

_Don't worry! I'm not the only one who came here to help you! _He assured me.

_What? _

_Hold still. Let me untie your hands. _

A moment later, I felt the cords loosen. I gratefully shook them off.

_So how do we get out of here? We need to rescue Mew! They caught her! _

_Yes. Don't worry. The cavalry approaches. _

Polaris-Ponyta. Kinesis-Kadabra, Charren-Charizard, Hurrico-Blastoise, Blossom-Venusaur, Leviathan-Gyarados, Pooka-Pikachu, Jarday-Jolteon.


	23. Cavalry Charge

Polaris-Ponyta. Kinesis-Kadabra, Charren-Charizard, Hurrico-Blastoise, Blossom-Venusaur, Leviathan-Gyarados, Pooka-Pikachu, Jarday-Jolteon.

Cavalry Charge

_What? _

It took only a moment longer for that phrase to become clear and for me tp see what "the cavalry" was.

With a resounding, shattering, CRASH, the wall off to my left exploded outwards.

Everyone from Team Rocket began swarming around wildly, trying to figure out what was going on. But a moment later, a stampede of Pokémon swarmed out of the hole in the wall. They formed a barricade between Team Rocket and me.

Then two of the Pokémon turned towards me.

One of them was a Ponyta.

"Polaris!"

She whinnied happily and trotted to my side. I staggered to my feet and dragged myself onto her back.

Then I saw the other Pokémon approaching me, Tauros, had a rider on his back.

"Ben!"

Ben grinned and saluted. "Hey! I brought some help!"

"Where did all of these Pokémon come from?"

"Take a wild guess!"

I glanced at the line of Pokémon angrily staring down Team Rocket. For the moment, no one dared to move. Team Rocket didn't know what to make of this strange army that had appeared out of nowhere.

The Pokémon ranged in size from big to small. I saw Sandshrew, Parasect, an Arbok, Nidorina, Persian, Rhyhorn, in fact, at least one Pokémon from almost every evolutionary family in Kanto.

The next few Pokémon I saw gave away their origin. They were standing beyond the others, at the front of the line: Two Blastoise, a Venusaur, Gyarados, Ninetales, Pikachu, Vaporeon, Joltion, and Flareon.

They were my Pokémon! Mine and Ben's! My main Pokémon were at the front. The others were the ones that spent most of the time at Oak's lab.

I stared in awe. It's one thing to catch Pokémon one at a time. It's completely different to see them all lined up together prepared for battle. I was in awe.

"I figured it was my turn to be reckless," Ben said with a grin. "So I went and got all of our Pokémon. I guess I can't tease you for catching so many of them, even if you use some more than others. They're sure gonna come in handy now!"

I laughed. "Great! Let's go get Mew! And then we can get out of here!"

Ben and I rode to the front of the line to join my main team.

"I love my Pokémon," I whispered, feeling hope well up in me.

I noticed that Charren and some of the other Pokémon were missing, but I didn't have time to dwell on that.

Ben and I glared down at Giovanni from our steeds. Deena stood behind him, looking very annoyed.

"You two are biting off more than you can chew," Giovanni growled. "Much, much more than you can possibly handle. Do you really think you can take on all of us?"

We glanced across as the 50 or so Team Rockets behind Giovanni. They all had their Pokéballs ready to go. And then there was Giovanni's team. Though his Nidoking was still asleep, we had his other Pokémon to deal with. We knew that our strongest Pokémon were no match for his if they went 1 on 1.

When we didn't back down, Giovanni turned and nodded to his minions. Flashes of red illuminated the stadium and Team Rocket's Pokémon appeared: Weezing, Ekans, Scyther, Nidorino, Pinsir, and many many others. We were outnumbered. But we couldn't back off. Not when they had Mew. Any damage they could do with a Pokémon like Mew on their side was much worse than what might happen to us if we failed. We had to try.

Giovanni released his Pokémon last. They took the front of the enemy's lineup. Several of Team Rocket's Pokémon created a barricade blocking us from Mew. We'd get there. We had to.

_We need to get to Mew! Everyone, make it your goal to get those Pokémon out of the way so we can save Mew! _

Ben and I watched and waited. Everyone held their breath.

Then a loud roar cut the sky. Everyone looked up to see a Charizard swoop down out of the sky, followed by a flock of bird Pokémon. That's what had been missing! The bird Pokémon! Charren had led them all in.

Charren's roar was the signal to attack. Everyone launched themselves forwards in a mass tidal wave.

Polaris surged forwards at the head of the attack. She leapt over the front lines of the enemy Pokémon and began lashing out with flames and hooves at the enemies that surrounded her.

_Cara! _Polaris cried as her hoof made contact with the skull of a Hypno. _Ride with Charren! You're less likely to get hurt! See, Ben's already going up with his Pidgeot. _

I nodded and Charren swooped down and grabbed me in her claws. She hovered for a moment so I could settle myself on her neck. Then I clung on as she dove and started firing jets of flame down at enemy Pokémon.

A Weezing floated up in front of us to release a cloud of toxic gas. Ben flew in on his Pidgeot, and his Pokémon's wings blew the poison away. My Butterfree glided in to use sleep powder and the Weezing dropped to the ground.

I hung on tightly and watched the battle below as Charren wheeled around, blasting fire wherever it was needed. I saw my Scyther fencing with another Scyther. Ben's Kangaskhan had my Kangaskhan (her baby) snuggled safely in her pouch. Mine and Ben's Rhyhorn were ganging up on Giovanni's Rhyhorn. My Lapras was shooting ice to disable attackers. Ben's Nidoking was exchanging blows with Giovanni's Nidoqueen. Ben's Arcanine, my Growlithe and Ninetales were teaming up to fry their opponents.

"Ah! Charren! Help Pooka!"

My Pikachu was loosing a match with Persian. Charren swooped down and snatched Persian in his claws. Pooka hung on as well and climbed up to sit next to me. Before Persian got a chance to react, Charren used Seismic Toss and hurled Persian down into the battlefield.

Pooka sat on Charren's head, blasting out electricity.

"There! Charren! Look, Leviathan and Hurrico have made a gap in Mew's defenses! Swoop down there!"

_Hang on. Let me hold you under me. That way I can swoop down and you can grab the bubble! _

I let Charren maneuver me around so she was holding me against her belly.

_Hold on! Here we go! _

Charren angled down at a steep dive, slamming her way through a cloud of defending Fearow.

I reached down as Charren came towards where Mew was held. And then my hands closed around the bubble and Charren was airborne again.

A Golbat appeared out of nowhere in front of us. Before Charren could react, Golbat had used Poison Sting. The attack struck Charren's wings. She bellowed in pain and dropped out of the sky.

I screamed as she released her hold on me and I fell. I released a soft "oof" as I landed on soemthing cushy. I had landed on my own Snorlax! His belly made a very soft landing.

My arms remained tightened around Mew's bubble protectively.

Behind me, Charren crashed to the ground and he and Pooka didn't move again. They were done fighting.

Polaris charged in beside Snorlax and I jumped onto her back along with my Jolteon, Jarday.

Polaris tried to gallop towards the hole that was blasted in the wall so we could escape, but we suddenly found our way blocked by a wall of glaring Rocket Pokémon. Polaris wheeled around to head in the opposite direction, but our path was blocked there too. Again she spun around. But she froze. Her head hung low and she trembled with fatigue. I could feel her sides heaving beneath me as she gasped for breath.

We were completely surrounded.

I glanced around wildly trying to find where my Pokémon had got to.

Icy fear swept through me as I saw that almost all of them were collapsed on the ground, defeated. True most of Team Rocket's Pokémon were defeated as well, but there were still over 20 of them left.

Above me, Ben and Pidgeot were the only allies left in the sky. As I watched, a group of Fearow and Golbat swarmed around them and knocked them to the ground as well.

With one last burst of effort, the last of my Pokémon joined up and tried to blast through the enemy lines. Blastois, Venusaur, Flareon Magmar, Nidoking, and Beedrill. They managed to knock out several more opponents, but Giovanni's Golem stomped forwards and used Explosion, sending all of them out of the battle.

With a snarl, Jolteon leapt off Polaris's back and burst into light, sending off sparks in every direction. But she too fell beneath the enemies. It was just me and Polaris.

A Muk sent out a blob of ooze that struck Polaris's shoulder. She cried out and fell over. I landed heavily on the ground on my arm, but didn't let go of Mew's bubble.

Polaris and I struggled to our feet and faced the remaining 20 Pokémon. At least two of them I recognized as Giovanni's. And Polaris was absolutely exhausted. There was no way she could get the rest of them out of the way for us to escape.

I looked down at Mew, still slumped at the bottom of the bubble. She opened one eye and looked feebly up at me. I gulped and looked up again.

Giovanni stepped forwards through the ring of Pokémon around us.

"I must say, you've put up more of a fight than I would have ever imagined. You're a real pain, and I could easily have you crushed. With that in mind, give Mew to me. Right now."

"No!"

Giovanni's Nidoqueen charged forwards. With a flash of hooves, Polaris lashed out and struck Nidoqueen to the ground.

Giovanni glared at me. "This is the last time I'll ask."

"I won't!"

"Because if you don't agree, I might have to kill your friend."

I hesitated and then glanced in the direction where Ben had fallen. My insides felt like they dropped clear out of my body. Ben was held by a Scyther, just like I had been. Scthyer's blade arm was poised just above Ben's neck. His eyes were shut tight and he was trembling.

I looked down at the bubble in my arms. Mew was watching me weakly from one eye. I glanced back to Ben, my best friend.

_What do I do? Oh, what do I do? If they have Mew… they could do so much damage! And they might even end up killing me and Ben in the end anyway. But I can't just sit here and watch Ben be killed! I can't! _

"Ah," I whimpered.

"You have no choice," Giovanni said. "Hand over the Mew and we won't have to crush you completely."

"I…" I made as if to hand Mew to Giovanni. Maybe if I could distract him long enough I could do… something…

Someone screamed. Everyone glanced around and then finally looked up. Lightning zapped out of the air. A moment later, a shining beam if ice shot downwards, knocking the Scyther away so the Ben could struggle free.

Fire blasted downwards, frying all of the remaining enemy Pokémon.

And then three figures dropped out of the sky and landed between me and Giovanni.

I gaped. It was Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres.

Before the bewildered Team Rocket could react, Zapdos released a storm of electricity, striking all of the men and women from Team Rocket. As they all reeled back, partially paralyzed from the powerful electricity, Articuno released several jets of ice, freezing their feet to the ground so that they couldn't move. Though most of them had fainted from the intense blast of electricity.

Polaris, Ben and I stared, not daring to believe what had just happened.

Moltres stepped carefully over the unconscious Pokémon and people to where the machine was that had been holding Mew's bubble. With a swift strike of her beak, the machine was demolished and the blue bubble binding Mew puffed away in a cloud of vapor. I was holding Mew's small body in my arms. She stirred and looked up at me. She turned to look at the three legendary birds. She smiled and nodded to them in gratitude

Mew closed her eyes and began to glow. A moment later, she drifted out of my arms, looking a little better. Healthy enough to float, at least. She had used Recover.

Mew turned to face me and she nodded.

_Thank you, Cara. Thank you for helping me again. I'd hoped to make it up to you this time, but it looks like you ended up helping me once more. _

I had no idea what she meant by that. I'd helped her before? I hadn't done anything except give her a couple apples. She didn't mean that, did she? What did she want to repay me for?

_I am very grateful, _she continued_. But people will be coming here soon. Those police people. They will help you. But I can't be here when they arrive. _

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" I asked, concerned. She'd looked so weak earlier. She still looked very very tired, but Recover had helped her at least a little.

_I will be fine. They didn't have the time to do anything to me. Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres will help me get to a place where I can recover. There is a valley far from here where legendary Pokémon go to rest. That's where we'll head. _

"Okay. Please be careful. Come and visit again if you can. And get better."

_I will. _

Articuno lowered her head and allowed Mew to snuggle against her neck. Ben, Polaris and I watched as the three birds raised their wings and took off into the sky. We watched them as long as we could, until they disappeared into the sky.


	24. In Preparation

I've neglected my story for a little while. But It's been Christmas, and I got the new Spirit Tracks game. I've been vegetating with that for the past 4 days. So, here's the next chapter.

Someone reminded me about Amber a little while ago. I'd completely forgotten about her, even though I'd reminded myself to mention her again. Anyway, thanks for the reminder.

Polaris-Ponyta, Ferry-Lapras, Leviathan-Gyarados, Pooka-Pikachu, Charren-Charizard, Blossom-Venusaur, Hurrico-Blastoise

* * *

In Preparation

Ben let out a low whistle and raised his eyebrows. "Ouch."

"Oh, leave me alone," I grumbled, turning away. I knew what he was talking about even though I hadn't looked in the mirror yet. By now, I would have a bright purple bruise along the side of my face and a nice long cut from Nidoking's claw. Probably a lump on the back of my head too. And I'd twisted my arm a bit when I fell. I felt like a wreck.

"Let me look at that," Ben said, gesturing to the cut.

"Go away!" I hissed.

Ben took a step towards me. Without thinking, I shoved out my arm, catching him in the chest with my elbow. He let out a small "oof" and backed away, grimacing.

Alarmed at my own actions, I quickly stepped towards him. "Ah, shoot! I'm sorry Ben! I didn't mean to!"

Ben rubbed the spot where I'd jabbed him. Then he muttered, "So, are you gonna let me look at that, or should I leave?"

"Mm," I muttered, looking away from him. Though there was cause for celebration since we'd rescued Mew, I was in a bad mood. Yesterday had been a LONG day. We'd spent a very long time gathering all of our injured Pokémon from the field of battle. Professor Oak needed to send all of their Pokéballs to us. And the police showed up to arrest the guys from Team Rocket who had been frozen in place by Articuno. They also took care of gathering up Team Rocket's Pokémon. But the thing that had put me in a bad mood was Giovanni. Some time as we weren't watching, Giovanni had disappeared. We don't know how he escaped, where he went, or if he ever planned to come back to take revenge on us. I hoped I'd never have to see him again.

Hopefully he'll stay away from us.

I winced as Ben carefully touched the bruise.

"There's no poison in the cut or anything!" I hissed. "We'd know by now if Nidoking _did_ poison me!"

Ben didn't reply. When he was satisfied that the damage wasn't too bad, he stepped away again.

"Do you want to go see how our Pokémon are doing?" he asked. We'd just gotten back from making sure that all of them were being properly treated at the Viridian City Pokémon Center. I made a point to spend time with every single one of my Pokémon, hugging them and telling them how awesome they were and how much I loved them. I also made a mental note to use them all as often as I could, even though I'll always have my favorites.

When they were all healed, I sent all of them back except for a team of six.

For a few days we stayed in Viridian City, partially to help my Pokémon recover and partly to help me recover. I was amazed that I didn't have a concussion or something from those hits on my head.

What finally got us out of the city and on the move again was a reminder from Professor Oak. The Pokémon League was just over a week away.

So Ben and I headed out again. It wasn't far from Viridian City and we got there in a couple days. There was time enough to start a fast, intense training session. We had to pick our teams too. I'd be using a team very similar to the one I used against Giovanni. But this time I'd use Ferry, my Lapras, instead of Leviathan. She had some ice moves that would come in handy.

By the time the torch run began, I was thoroughly worked up about the whole upcoming event. That means that I was nervous.

When the opening ceremony arrived, Ben and I headed to the stadium with the rest of the competitors. There are so many people competing! People from all over Kanto. People much older than Ben and I. Which of them would end up being the strongest?

Yes, I was very nervous.

All of us paraded in to watch the lighting of the torch that burned with the flame of Moltres. It would burn during the entire competition.

As I stared at the torch, I couldn't help smiling at the irony of it. Just over a week ago we'd seen Moltres. Maybe that was a lucky sign.

The opening ceremony was fantastic. It got me excited and also thoroughly frayed my nerves because I knew the battles would be starting soon.

I was nervous, but Ben was positively terrified. He was good. No doubt about that. But he still had trouble defeating me in a match. He had good strategy, but his team didn't have strong stats. I hoped that he would do good though.

Ben and I returned to the hotel to meet our families for a small party. Our parents and friends had come down from Aqua Town to celebrate the battles that would begin tomorrow.

Pooka sat on my bed as Ben and my families talked and laughed. They weren't as nervous as we were, that's for sure.

A little while after everyone left, there came a knock at the door. Curious, I went to open it. I found myself facing a girl my age with light brown curly hair. I knew her from somewhere…

"Ah, you are here!" she exclaimed. "Professor Oak told me to come and find you!"

"Oh, Amber!" I exclaimed.

Curious, Ben peeked around the door to see who it was.

"Amber!" he repeated.

She laughed and tossed her hair. "Yeah. Anyway, I thought I'd say hi since I haven't seen y'all since Mount Moon."

"Yeah, it's been a long time. How are you?"

"Great! I'm great! I'm excited about tomorrow? How bout you?"

"Ah, good. I'm a bit nervous about tomorrow," I admitted.

"Me too," Ben added.

Amber laughed. "Don't be nervous! Anyway, I'll be watching you guys tomorrow in the first matches. Good luck!"

"Good luck," We called after her.

After she left, I collapsed on the bed with Pooka. I looked over the rest of my team: Polaris, Charren, Blossom, Hurrico, Ferry, and Pooka.

I took a deep breath to try to calm myself. I needed to keep confident. Confidence helps. As long as you don't get too confident. And I had to sound brave so my Pokémon would do well.

I slowly raised my hand to my face. The bruise was mostly gone by now, but the skin was still a bit tender to the touch. Man, that had been a spectacular loss to GIovanni. I prayed that we wouldn't run into any other opponents like Giovanni. Oh, shoot, that would definitely be bad.

Hopefully the first four matches wouldn't be too hard. They were mainly to weed out the weakest trainers. We'd battle once on each of the four fields-ice, rock, grass, and water. We'd drawn lots that night and my first match was in the water field.

After the first four rounds, then things would get serious.


	25. The Preliminary Rounds

I keep forgetting I'm supposed to be writing this. ^-^

Well, at least I keep remembering. Here we are at last. The Pokémon League. I should mention now, that my story does go beyond the Pokémon League. Just so you're fore-warned.

Anyway, prepare for lots of battling.

Polaris-Ponyta, Charren-Charizard, Blossom-Venusaur, Hurrico-Blastoise, Pooka-Pikachu, Ferry-Lapras

The Preliminary Rounds

I took a deep breath to steady myself. I wasn't too nervous yet. I didn't expect the first rounds to be too hard. I glanced across at my opponent, a boy a little older than me.

So, the water field. It was a large round pool with several islands in the middle. The smart choice would definitely be water Pokémon. And the first four rounds would be three-on-three. So I'd need to chose three of my team to fight here.

I sent out my Lapras, Ferry. She dove into the water and drifted back and forth in anticipation.

My opponent sent out a Krabby. Krabby sat on one of the islands, bubbling a bit at the mouth.

Then they gave the signal to start.

Ferry poked her head out of the water, and for a moment, the two water Pokémon stared at each other.

I smiled slightly. It was working.

"Krabby! Use Vice Grip!" Shouted the boy.

Krabby went scuttling off in the wrong direction, to the astonishment of his trainer. Lapras had used Confuse Ray.

I made a gesture to Ferry and she nodded and dove under the water to resurface again on the other side of Krabby, who was trying to regain his senses.

"Freeze it!" I shouted.

Ferry sent out Ice Beam, and Krabby was instantly a crab ice cube.

One down.

Starmie came out next and dove into the water to start right off with Rapid Spin. It whirled through the water like a deadly blade, keeping Ferry away. Then Starmie whirled around and spun right at Ferry, glancing off Lapras's chest. Ferry wailed in pain.

"Sing!" I shouted.

Lapras opened her mouth under water. A strange, eerie song drifted out of the arena, muted by the water. Honestly, I'd never tried Sing underwater before, so I wasn't sure that it would work. But sound travels fast underwater, right? And we couldn't get close to that twirling Starmie. So hopefully…

Almost instantly, Starmie's Rapid Spin began to slow. A moment later, it drifted to the surface, fast asleep.

Two down. This was easy.

Then the boy sent out a Butterfree.

I stared. That didn't seem like a smart choice. Butterfree couldn't do any damage as long as Lapras was under water.

"Water Gun!"

Ferry sent out several short blasts of water, but Butterfree dodged them all and drifted up to hover out of range.

So, it couldn't hit me, and I couldn't hit it. What now?

Lapras circled underwater, waiting.

I thought quickly, trying to think of a way to get a hit on Butterfree. It too was circling. I watched it almost absently. Maybe I should change Pokémon. That would be the best bet.

Ferry's movements were slowing.

_Hey, what's wrong? _

Ferry didn't reply.

I looked up at Butterfree again and this time I noticed something. There was a faint shimmer coming from its wings. A blue glittery powder.

Sleep Powder!

But Ferry was under water. Surely Sleep Powder wouldn't have any effect.

Butterfree continued circling over the water, sending the shining powder drifting down to settle on the water.

It was dissolving into the water. And Ferry was stirring the mixture as she circled beneath the surface. The pool was super-saturated with Sleep Powder. The entire thing was becoming a huge sleeping draft.

I realized it too late. Ferry fell limp in sleep and I called her back.

"Let's finish this quick."

I sent out Charizard, and the battle was finished in one swift burst of flame.

"Eee! I'm gonna miss it!" My first match had overlapped with Ben's. I would miss at least the first part of it. I sprinted into the rock stadium, panting for breath, only to find the combatants leaving the arena. I glanced up at the score board to note that Ben had won. I breathed a sigh of relief and jogged around to meet him.

Ben and I celebrated our first victories that night and planned for our next battles. I'd already decided to leave Polaris for the last half of the battles where I would need her most. And that way, no one would see her until then and she'd remain my secret. No one expected a Ponyta to be a threat in a battle. Let them think my other Pokémon were the best I got.

The rock field would be next for me. At least this time I'd be able to watch Ben's battle on the ice field.

And the next day, I found myself in my second battle, Venusaur versus Golem. The first round had been easy. I'd only lost one Pokémon. But I didn't expect this match to be that easy.

Golem started out with Earthquake, causing the ground under Blossom to buck and shift. She staggered around, trying to keep her balance. Luckily she was a low-to-the-ground Pokemon, so she didn't get knocked over. But Earthquake did a lot of damage to my poison (and grass) type.

But during the Earthquake, Blossom had been gathering sunlight in her flower, and let out a burst of solar energy, sending Golem out of the battle.

Then my opponent sent out a Charmeleon. Blossom started out with Leech Seed to regain some of her energy. But it wasn't enough to keep her from getting knocked out by Flamethrower.

Pooka came out next and quickly jumped on Charmeleon's back so he couldn't use his fire attacks. Then a couple Thunderbolts were all that was needed to get Charmeleon out of there.

Then came Rhyhorn.

I quickly returned Pooka and sent out Hurrico.

Rhyhorn charged Hurrico, but Hurrico reached out with his powerful arms and stopped Rhyhorn in his tracks. For a moment, they struggled against each other, and then Hurrico knocked Rhyhorn off balance. Rhyhorn fell to the side and struggled to his feet only to be swept away by Hydro Pump. Hurrico lowered his head for Skull Bask and Rhyhorn began to charge forwards with Take Down. At the last moment before impact, Hurrico withdrew into his shell and Rhyhorn collided head-first with the rock hard shell. He staggered backwards, knocked dizzy, and Hurrico finished him off with Bubble.

I think I was getting a big head. The first two matches hadn't been that hard at all. I strode proudly out of the arena, getting a bit too confident.

The most interesting part of Ben's battle was when his Blastoise used Withdraw to defend against a Victreebel. Victreebel used Vine Whip to spin Blastoise around and around in his shell until Blastoise was too dizzy to stay inside anymore. Though Ben did end up winning with his Nidoking.

My next battle in the grass arena turned into a long drawn-out battle between Pooka and Growlithe, both our Last Pokémon. Growlithe was much faster than he looked and kept dodging Pooka's attacks. Finally Pooka launched himself into the air and sent a hail of lightning bolts down, paralyzing Growlith. Growlithe fell to a Slam.

This had been the toughest match yet. It was a good thing they were getting harder, because the first two had put me in a false sense of security. Now I was more alert and less cocky.

Ice field next. It would be the last of the preliminary rounds. After today, the serious battles would begin. The weakest trainers would have been weeded out. I spend most of that day trying to figure out the best strategies for a field coated in slippery ice.

I sent out Charren first. Since Charizard can fly, we didn't even have to worry about landing on the slippery ice. Except my opponent had a similar idea and sent out a Golbat.

Golbat slashed in towards Charizard with Wing Attack, but Charizard swung out of the way and blasted Flamethrower after it. Golbat wheeled around and used Supersonic, causing Charren to reel in confusion. Golbat darted in with Wing Attack several more times before Charren recovered and colsed her claws around Golbat's wing to hurl him down to the ice. A blast of fire followed, and Golbat was defeated. But as my opponent set out a Dodrio, Charren sank slowly to the ground. Somehow during Golbat's volley of attacks, Charren had been poisoned. And it had taken its toll.

One strike of Dodrio's beaks was enough to finish her off.

Then I sent out Ferry.

I could tell that my opponent though I'd made a stupid choice. Lapras are best in the water, right? Well, Ferry would be better than Dodrio. Lapras had a low center of gravity. Unlike Dodrio.

To test my theory, I had had Ferry use Water Gun. Dodrio tried to dodge out of the way, but just as I thought, his feet slipped on the ice and he fell flat on his belly. Lapras used her fins to push herself forwards. She slid easily over the ice on her belly.

Before Dodrio could regain his feet, Lapras had used Body Slam.

Dodrio levered his feet against Ferry's side and flipped to his feet. This time Dodrio expected his feet to slip on the ice, and he accounted for it in his movements. He ran anyway, beginning a highly coordinated sprint about the slippery field.

"Ice Beam!"

Ferry blasted out the ice, but Dodrio dodged. Again Ferry used Ice Beam, but once again Dodrio ducked out of the way.

The ice from Ferry's attacks froze in glistening arches around the battlefield. An idea popped into my head.

"Keep at it!"

Ferry continued to shoot out Ice Beam, increasing the frozen arches that streaked across the battlefield.

Then Dodrio leapt into the air and launched right off of one of the ice columns, landing directly on Lapras's back. With his feet planted firmly on Ferry's shell, all three heads began pecking away at her head.

Ferry desperately sent out Hydro Pump behind her, making Dodrio leap back. Then Dodrio used Tri Attack, and Ferry fainted.

I sent out Hurrico.

Blastoise promptly slipped on the ice and fell on his belly, skidding across the slippery surface. Dodrio charged in with three sharp beaks, but Blastoise had not fallen on accident. I'd told him to fall so that he could use his own shell as a sled.

He pushed himself around to face Dodrio and used Bubble. The bubbles knocked Dodrio over. The momentum that bird had built up caused him to slam heads-first into one of Ferry's ice columns.

Dodrio was out.

Then came Muk.

I gulped. Water attacks wouldn't do much against that pile of slime.

"Hydro Pump!" I quickly sent a telepathic message to Hurrico, explaining what I wanted him to do. He nodded in understanding and used Hydro Pump. The water hit one of the ice arches and the force pushed Hurrico backwards. He slid easily on his shell-stomach. Again Hurrico used Hydro Pump, sending him turning into a differed direction. Muk began using Sludge, but Hurrico was building up so much momentum that Muk's attacks were missing.

Soon, my Blastoise was spinning about the ice rink like a huge pinball. And the twirling shell struck Muk.

But Muk's soft body just gave under the blow, barely harmed at all.

"Go!" I shouted.

Hurrico used one last Hydro Pump to send him spinning backwards towards an ice column that arched upwards and around like a loop on a rollercoaster. Blastoise shot up one side of the arch, but didn't have enough momentum to get all the way around. Instead, he fell upside-down and landed with a thud and a SPLAT right on Muk. Muk was flattened by the huge Pokémon, and Blastoise had a soft landing.

Perfect.

I left the arena, satisfied. I'd gotten through the first half of the competition. Though I knew the battles coming next would be much more difficult. Blastoise had done great. He'd judged that ark just perfectly to land flat on Muk. He would have had a hard time defeating Muk in any other way.

"Hey!"

I turned to see who had called me. A boy was striding towards me. He was a couple years older than me with reddish brown hair that was cut short.

"You were the kid who was just battling in there, right?"

I nodded.

"That was a great battle! The way you got your Blastoise to push itself around like that! And the way you got it to launch into the air! Great going.!"

"Thanks."

"The name's Josh. Josh Kire. I'm in the Pokémon League too. I just won my fourth match."

"Ah, congratulations. I'm Cara. Cara Kellan." I wasn't quite sure how to reply to him. I was… flattered that he liked my battle so much. Even if the last part had been spur of the moment.

"Well, good luck. I hope I get a chance to battle you. You have interesting ideas." He waved to me and strode off. I blinked after him. I'd met several outgoing people on my journey, but I never really found it that easy to go up and start an enthusiastic conversation with a complete stranger. Except on special occasions.

I turned and hurried off to join Ben as he went off to his fourth battle.


	26. Gettin' Tougher

You know, I really wish the Pokémon games would let you use a little more strategy in the battles. I know there's special ways to train your Pokémon, but the battles just alternate between blows. I guess it's kinda impossible to make the battles in the games much more complicated than that, but it would be fun.

Polaris-Ponyta, Charren-Charizard, Blossom-Venusaur, Hurrico-Blastoise, Pooka-Pikachu, Ferry-Lapras

Gettin' Tougher

"Ah, man that was scary," Ben gasped. His match had just ended, and he'd won by a hair. Less than that. Half a hair. Only because his Nidoking poisoned its opponent at the last moment before Nidoking would have dropped.

"I can't stand this much longer," Ben groaned. "I'm too stressed."

"I think almost everyone here is," I replied.

"HIIII!!!!"

Ben and I looked up to see a girl running towards us, beaming happily. Amber.

"Ah, hey!" I said, waving to her.

She skipped to a halt in front of us. "I was watching your guys' battles! You're great! Cara, your ice thing was really cool! Ben, good job on that last match! I passed the first half too. We'll all be going on to the next rounds!"

I felt somewhat guilty. Amber had been watching our battles, but I hadn't seen any of hers. I made a mental note to watch all of the battles of the last half to get to know the opponents I'd be facing. Four rounds left. Sixteen people in the first round, eight in the second, four in the third and the last round would be the last two trainers standing.

"Do you guys want to go out to dinner tonight? I found this really great place not far away." She bounced up and down as she spoke.

I smiled to myself. I'd just said that everyone was feeling stressed over the Pokémon League. Obviously I was wrong. "Yeah, that sounds fun. I need to relax a bit before tomorrow."

"I suppose," Ben sighed. He was still trembling a bit from the excitement of his match. He didn't sound too enthusiastic, but sitting down to a nice dinner would probably be good for him too.

So the three of us headed off down the road, Amber talking excitedly the whole time. I smiled. It was like we'd known her all her life, and not only met her once several months ago.

It was nice.

The next morning, the battles began again. Amber was in the first round against an older woman. I'd never seen her battle before. She was fantastic. The movements of her Pokémon were swift, smooth, and effortless. Her team consisted of Ivysaur, Wigglytuff, Clefable (looks like she managed to catch those two after all), Nidorina, Dewgong, and Ninetales.

Another battle came after that, and then it was Ben's turn. He was facing some guy in his twenties. According to the board, his name was Carl.

When the battle started, I noticed that something didn't seem quite right. Compared to Amber's team, the movements of Carl's Pokémon seemed so jagged and random. It looked exactly like he was doing everything by accident. His Golduck tripped and fell in time to avoid a blast from Ben's Arcanine. And then his Onix made a mistake while it was using Rock Throw, causing one of the boulders to shatter and crack Ben's Blastoise's shell.

It was so strange. It looked like things were happening by extreme dumb luck for this Carl guy. It _looked _Like that. But I wasn't so sure. This guy might be a highly skilled trainer who was making his actions look unintentional, just to throw off his opponents. I wished I'd watched more battles in the preliminary rounds so I could have seen more of this guys style. I wanted to figure out what he was doing.

It was a long battle. Ben fought amazingly, but in the end, Carl's strange fighting style ended up winning. Ben left the stadium, looking dejected. I wanted to go and find him, but my battle was up next and I needed to run down to take my place.

Actually, there wasn't much to tell about my battle. My opponent was some strange muscle guy with a Machamp, Hitmonlee, and Hitmonchan. I used Charren, Hurrico, and Blossom because their special attacks were able to bring down the fighting types without getting within range of their fists.

After my victory against the fighting Pokémon, I went back up to the bleachers to sit with Amber and watch the rest of the day's matches. Ben hadn't come back yet.

In the last match of the first round, I recognized one of the combatants. It was Josh, the boy who had praised my battle style the day before. I watched his battle with interest.

He. Was. FANTASTIC.

His team consisted of Tauros, Scyther, Raichu, Drowzee, Sandshrew, and Charizard.

Every one of his moves was exploding with power. His Pokémon were fast and dodged each attack by no more than a hair, conserving their momentum and energy to sling around for a counter attack. I hoped that I'd never have to face him in battle.

After Josh's match, Amber and I headed down to see who we'd be fighting the next day.

I gulped. My next match would be against Carl, the guy who had defeated Ben.

So, the next morning, I found myself on the field again. He was a rather scrawny guy with dark hair and glasses. He didn't _look _stupid. I'd have to stay on my guard.

Carl sent out Golduck. I sent out Pooka.

I wasn't sure what to expect, so I immediately had Pooka start out with Aglity followed by Double Team. Golduck responded by using Double Team as well. But it wasn't a very well-trained Double Team. Pooka had nearly a dozen copies. Golduck had only three. This wasn't going to be too hard.

"Thunderbolt!"

Pooka's copies all began to spark, masking the real Pooka. At the same time, Golduck's three copies used Surf.

A large wave, about ten feet high, swelled up out of the stadium floor. The three Golduck were riding on top of it.

The electricity from Pooka's attack hit the wave. As the wave bore down on Pooka and his copies, my Pikachu dropped the Double Team and sent out several more Thunderbolts in rapid succession. If we were fast, Pooka might be able to get a hit and still jump out from under the wave in time.

He struck first one Golduck copy, and then the other. Just as we were sure that the last one was real, the copies reappeared again. When Pooka struck the last Golduck, it too turned out to be a copy. Golduck had a way of swapping places with its doubles. We couldn't be sure which was the real one, even if we kept knocking out the other doubles. Cause he could just replace them.

_Get ready to get out from under that wave, Pooka, _I called with telepathy. _But before you do, take one more shot at those Golduck copies. Try to hit all of them! _

Pooka sent out one last electric attack at the three Golduck perched atop the wave. As he did so, the water from the bottom of the wave lapped up against Pooka's feet. We could still make it though…

Just before the Thunderbolt struck, Golduck let its Double Team dissolve and it jumped into the air, away from the attack. Pooka's attack struck the wave.

At that moment, I realized something. Salt Water. That was salt water that made up the wave. I could smell it. And I recalled something that Ben told me. Salt dissolves into ions- charged particles. Ions conduct electricity. Salt water is VERY good at conducting electricity. And the salt water was touching Pooka's feet. As Pooka's last attack struck the wave, the salt in the water absorbed the electricity and sent it through the water until it reached Pooka. My Pikachu cried out as his own attack came back and blasted him with powerful electricity. And then the wave crashed down on top of Pooka.

Golduck landed on the ground after the wave crashed, and promptly stumbled and fell over.

But either way, Pooka's own attack had brought him down.

Salt Water. Had Carl done that on purpose? Or was it a coincidence? Golduck may have used salt water because it had trained in the ocean. Did he _want_ Pooka to zap himself? Or had it been an accident?

I glanced over to the trainer, but I couldn't tell anything by looking at him. He looked neither startled about the results, nor triumphant.

I returned Pooka. I sent out Ferry next. I had her use Ice Beam, freezing all of the water from the Surf attack. Once again, we had an ice rink for my Lapras to slide around on. And even better, Golduck's feet had been frozen into the ice. He couldn't move. And Ferry easily froze Golduck. We were each down one Pokémon.

Next Carl sent out Onix. Onix? Onto a field frozen by ice, against a water Pokémon?

Onix slammed her tail down on the ice, making it shatter. It seemed to be clearing away the ice from the ground where she was sitting, but the cracks in the ice spread across most of the field, including where Ferry was sitting. Jagged edges of ice stabbed up, cutting her flippers.

"Ice Beam!" _Freeze more of the field! _

Ferry began blasting out Ice Beam across the field, creating similar ice arches as last time and re-freezing part of the stadium.

Onix launched forwards into the ice columns, slamming through some of them to get to Ferry. The delicate ice sctructures crumbled and fell down to the ground, shattering. The sharp fragments bounced harmlessly off Onix's rocky hide, but some of them struck Lapras.

_Get out of the way! _

She pushed her self along the ice, sliding on her belly like she had done last time. But Onix was faster. With one push of her tail, Onix launched herself towards Ferry. And Onix's rocky body slipped on the ice and fell forwards. Onix's momentum kept her going, like a freight train. Her huge head slammed into Ferry, knocking her onto her back, helpless. Before I could help her right herself, Onix had regained her balance and slammed her tail into Ferry.

Ferry was out.

I had only one Pokémon left. Carl had two. For my plan to work, I needed...

Charren appeared next, opening her mouth wide and sending out a burst of flame. She was ready to fight! She soared out of the way of Rock Throw and blasted Flamethrower down on the ice. One of the massive ice arches melted away in the flames and collapsed, drenching Onix. Charren soared down, weaving between the ice structures, and sent flames onto Onix's wet body. It worked. Onix collapsed in defeat.

Carl sent our Marowak. A ground type. Another strange type to chose against a flying type. But Onix had defeated Lapras, so I had to be careful. I'd already realized that this guy wasn't stupid at all. He was more like a genius who was acting stupid to throw off his opponent. I think that's what got Ben.

Marowak leapt into the air, sprang off an ice arch, and jumped up again, bounding up a ladder of ice. Before Charren could react, Marowak had launched himself up into the air. He raised his bone club and brought it smashing down on Charren's head.

Charren dropped several feet before she caught herself. She flapped back up into the air, shaking her head dizzily. Marowak landed on an ice arch and threw his bone. Bonemerang. Charren reeled out of the way, but Marowak threw it again. Charren tried to dodge, but this time the bone clipped her wing. She roared, but remained airborne.

Well, looks like Carl had stopped pretending to be dumb. Now that the battle was so close, he was having his Marowak fight for all he was worth.

_We have to fight back! If we let that Marowak keep throwing its club like that, you'll get beat down! Swoop low and melt more of that ice! _

Charren obeyed, ducking under another throw of the bone. She sent out flames, melting the ice on the field. But she purposefully missed the column that Marowak was standing on. She passed back and forth, directing her fire at the ice and the water on the ground. She wove back and forth, dodging the continued Bonemerang attack. When over half of the ice was melted, the targeted Marowak's arch. There was nothing else nearby now for Marowak to jump on since it had all been melted. So when Marowak's column collapsed, he could only fall. Right into several inches of water coating the stadium floor. Several inches of HOT water.

Marowak yowled as he splashed into the scalding water, but the heat was already melting the rest of the ice. There was nowhere else for him to go. And one last blast from Charren finished Marowak.

I gasped and fell back against the wall. That had definitely been the toughest match yet. But we had won.


	27. Amber

So, I've been neglecting my story again. ^o^ Sorry. It's all her fault! My friend lent my a new game that I've never played before, so I've been playing it in my limited spare time. (Honestly, the only games I knew before last week were Pokemon, Zelda, and Super Sash bros. Now Okami has been added to the list.

Polaris-Ponyta, Charren-Charizard, Blossom-Venusaur, Hurrico-Blastoise, Pooka-Pikachu, Ferry-Lapras

Amber

"Great match!"

Ben hailed me as I stepped out of the arena. "That was brilliant! I'm glad you beat that guy!"

Ben grinned at me.

"Ah, thanks," I huffed. "These matches are getting scary."

"Ben grimaced. "Yeah. Well, I don't feel so bad losing since I saw that you had trouble fighting that guy too."

I nodded. "Yeah. That guy had a weird battle style."

"Threw me for a loop. Well, anyway, congrats."

"Yeah. Sorry you lost though."

Ben shrugged. "I knew I wouldn't win. I'm glad I got as far as I did. Besides, only one person's gonna win. One out of… well, over 100. It'd be stupid for all the other 100 people to get upset that they didn't win."

I smiled. Yes, Ben was good at matches, but he was better at other things. He'd be less upset at a loss than most people would. For example, I wouldn't take a loss as graciously as Ben did. But I wouldn't sob over it either. I'd probably be at least a little upset. But come to think of it… I'd come so far already that I had no reason to be upset by a loss now. There were only 2 matches left. That means only 4 more people are in the competition . I'm in the top 4, no matter what happens next.

I smiled at the thought. It was comforting to think of.

"HIIYA!!!"

Amber bounced over to us. "Great job, Cara! Let's go over to the lobby and see what the match-ups are for next time."

I nodded. Ben and I went with her down to the main building. Josh and another boy were there. We were the last four.

Josh gave me the thumbs up. I smiled back.

All of us turned to the screen. It flashed momentarily, and then paired the last of us up. I gulped. I would be fighting Amber.

Amber turned to me.

"Now I get to battle you for real! I've always wondered how tough you were. Now we can test each other!"

"Yeah. Good luck, Amber."

"You too, Cara."

Ben and I headed back to our rooms to await our match the next morning.

And so it came to be that the next day, I found myself once again in the stadium with Amber facing me at the opposite side. She grinned and waved. I gave a little wave back. Now I'd be fighting her for the first time.

Ivysaur, Wigglytuff, Clefable, Nidorina, Dewgong, Ninetales. That was her team. It didn't sound too difficult. Her Ivysaur wasn't even fully evolved. Neither was her Nidorina. And Wigglytuff and Clefable… Not noted for anything special. I think…

But that didn't mean a thing. She had to be good to get this far. Good.

I took a deep breath to steady myself. I was shaking. Please don't let me make a stupid mistake.

This was the second to last match. We'd be using four Pokémon each. For the last match, we'd use all six of our team. But I wasn't there yet. I had to get past Amber first.

The signal was given. I jumped to attention and hurled out a Pokéball. Amber and my Pokémon appeared together in a flash of red.

I gave a small smile. I'd released Blossom, and she'd sent out her Ivysaur. Venusaur were more powerful, but they were slower. This would be interesting.

Ivysaur Loped in a circle around Blossom. Blossom lumbered around to face her opponent. Ivysaur used Vine Whip, but Blossom sent her own vines shooting out. The two sets of vines tangled around each other. Blossom easily lifted Ivysaur off the ground. Ivysaur cried out and flailed wildly, but couldn't get free. Blossom lifted Ivysaur over her head and began to absorb the sunlight.

Then a purple powder began to shimmer down from Ivysaur's bud. Poison Powder.

_Hurry, Blossom! He's gonna poison you! _

Then Blossom unleashed Solar Beam. There was no way Ivysaur could dodge, and he got the full blast of it.

But Blossom had been poisoned. She couldn't dodge the attack.

Ivysaur wriggled free, panting and weak from taking Solar Beam at such close range.

Amber recalled Ivysaur. She sent out Nirorina.

Blossom wheezed, feeling faint from poisoning. I grit my teeth. How long would it take for the poison to knock her out? We might be able to get a couple more good hits in before that.

Nidorina dodged around under Blossom's legs and used Poison-sting on Blossom's belly. Blossom gave a cry of pain and tried to step sideways away from Nidorina, but Nidorina stayed under my Venusaur.

The smart thing to do would be to have Blossom let herself drop down on top of Nidorina. But Nidorina was covered in poison spikes. She'd hurt Blossom if we tried that. But Blossom was losing so much energy to poison that she'd be gone anyway…

"Blossom, crush it!" I shouted. At the very least, I'd get Nidorina out of the way.

Blossom let her legs collapse and her immense bulk came down on the little Nidorina. There was no way she could escape from beneath my Venusaur's body. And Now Venusaur was down from fatigue.

Amber and I returned our Pokémon.

Amber sent out her Ninetales next. I released Pooka.

Ninetales flew in with her tails flowing behind her. Pooka leapt up and grabbed onto the tails. He released a shower of sparks that zapped Ninetales. Ninetales snarled and whipped around, sending Pooka flying. He struck the edge of the arena and staggered back, dazed. Ninetales flew forwards and rammed Pooka back into the wall.

Out of desperation, Pooka released a blinding flash of electricity that made NInetales reel back.

Pooka took that time to recover. He took off around the edge of the arena and began using Double Team. Ninetales started sprinting along in toe opposite direction, crashing through Pooka's doubles one by one. The remainder of Pooka's doubles dodged inward and then all wheeled around, heading straight for Ninetales.

Ninetales sprang straight up in the air. Pooka responded by sending a column of electricity up to strike Ninetales. Ninetales came crashing back to the ground in defeat.

Pooka panted, down on all fours. He was tired. He probably wouldn't last much longer.

Amber sent out Clefable.

Pooka stood his ground, waiting.

Clefable didn't move. It waited.

Pooka began to spark and released his attack. It struck Clefable, but she didn't even flinch. Clefable had high HP. It would take a lot of hits to make a dent. And Pooka was tired.

Clefable danced forwards. Pooka tried to jump out of the way, but Clefable caught him and used Double Slap. Pooka collapsed sideways and rolled back onto his feet. He tackled Clefable, but Clefable spun smoothly around and pounded her fist down on Pooka's head. Pooka fell to the ground and didn't get up.

I returned him and debated about my next Pokémon. I had two left. So did Amber. All right. I knew what I wanted to do.

I sent out Polaris.

Polaris reared back and took off with Agility. She galloped around the field in circles.

Clefable began to shake her fingers back and forth. Metronome. A risky move for both opponents. Who knew what would happen?

Suddenly the ground began to rumble and the stadium floor cracked under Polaris's feet. Earthquake!

"Jump!"

Polaris leapt into the air in her favorite attack. She can shoot straight upwards and nearly hover in mid-air at the peak of her leap. Then she comes down on her opponent.

But as Polaris came back to the earth. Clefable dodged to the side again. Clefable opened her mouth to use Sing.

I withdrew Polaris before Clefable could unleash her attack.

Charren came out next. She soared overhead and swooped down, shooting flames down at Clefable.

Clefable wove between most of them, but eventually got hit. And she was burned. Great. The burn would wear away her HP.

Clefable used Metronome again. And she used Thunder!

Charren let out a cry of surprise and swerved to avoid the attack. Luckily Thunder doesn't have high accuracy.

Again Clefable used Metronome. And this time Gust came out. How was this happening? Every time Metronome was used, an effective hit came out? First Earthquake, then Thunder on a flying type. And then Gust, which does double damage when the opponent is flying. Was this coincidence?

Charren got caught up in the whirlwind and was battered around. She flapped wildly to try to regain balance, but it didn't work. So she tucked her wings and dropped down directly at Clefable. Charren scooped up Clefable in her claws and rocketed back up again. She swirled around once in the air, and then used Seismic Toss to hurl Clefable back to the earth. Clefable fell like a meteor and crashed back to the ground. But she got up again.

Seismic Toss was super effective. Clefable had taken a lot of damage. One more hit might do the trick…

But again Clefable used Metronome.

Water Gun.

It struck Charren. Charizard reeled back and landed heavily on the ground. She staggered to her feet and opened wide her jaws, sending Flamethrower at Clefable.

This time, Clefable fell.

Charizard beat her wings feebly, but it wasn't enough to get airborne. She was too weak.

Amber sent out Ivysaur one last time.

Ivysaur looked refreshed from his rest.

Charizard used Ember but Ivysaur dodged to the side in an almost teasing manner. Again Charren attacked, again Ivysaur dodged. Its movements were almost like a dance. All of Amber's Pokémon moved like that. So effortlessly…

Ivysaur paused as Charren gasped for breath. Then I noticed the small shimmer coming from Ivysaur's bud. Solar Beam. He had been charging all that time.

Too late. Ivysaur unleashed Solar Beam and engulfed Charren in the blast.

Charren fell.

Each down to our last Pokémon. But I had the type advantage. Hopefully that would be enough.

I noticed Ivysaur charging another Solar Beam-taking the time while I switched my Pokémon.

I released Polaris and she immediately leapt to the side in an attempt to dodge the impending Solar Beam. But Ivysaur had expected the maneuver and adjusted his aim. Polaris got the full blast.

Polaris staggered to the side and leaned against the arena wall. I vaguely noticed the roars of the crowd. I shook my head to shut out the sounds.

_Fire Spin! _

Polaris opened her mouth and sent out a fiery tornado.

Once again, Ivysaur started charging Solar Beam. Her Clefable and Ivysaur were repeating the same moves over and over…

Ivysaur's attack blasted right through the center of Fire Spin and the two attacks dissolved each other.

Another telltale shimmer appeared over Ivysaur's bud.

_OK, Polaris! Attack before he gets a chance to finish charging! _

Polaris thundered forwards with Takedown. As she drew near Ivysaur, I noticed soemthing. That shimmering I'd seen above the bulb wasn't Solar Beam. It was Stun Spore! She'd tricked me! Amber had used the same attacks over and over so I'd anticipate a repeat. And when I fell for it, she'd make her move.

Polaris skidded to a halt, but not fast enough to avoid getting the paralyzing powder right in her face. Her whole head, neck, and chest were immobilized.

Ivysaur began charging again. This time it was a real Solar Beam. If it hit at this close range…

_Polaris! Flip! _

Polaris locked her forelegs and pushed off with her hind legs, flipping her rear over her head. Her hind hooves came down on Ivysaur's head.

Ivysaur froze for a moment as Polaris collapsed on her back and flailed to regain her feet.

Then Ivysaur slowly sank onto his side.

I gasped and collapsed to the ground as Polaris got stiffly to her feet. She gave a little whinny and shook off some of the Stun Spore. Enough to trot up to me and nuzzle me. I wrapped my arms around her. We'd won.

Amber left the stadium and I did the same once I'd returned Polaris. I barely noticed the crowd going wild.

When I was outside, I sank to the ground, visible trembling. I couldn't believe it. I'd won again. There was only one match left. Who would it be against? Josh, maybe.

And I was already a nervous wreck.

I put my face to my hand and felt a cold sweat. Wow, I really was a nervous wreck.

"Hey! You won, you know. You're supposed to be happy!"

I jumped and looked up. Amber was standing there, Leaning over me and smiling.

I quickly stood.

"Ah, yeah. Just nervous. That was a great match by the way. It was really close."

"Close matches are the best!" Amber said enthusiastically. "Even though I lost, I had a great time! Thanks for the match!"

I smiled. "Yeah. Thanks for the match."

"You'll do great tomorrow, Cara," Amber promised me. "I'm sure you will. Come on. Let's go watch the next match. That way you'll know who you'll be fighting."

I stood and followed Amber into the stadium to meet up with Ben.


	28. Duel for the Championship

So, now my excuse for not updating sooner is school. And brain-frying-ness. So, I really don't have any ideas for this battle as of now. I'll think on the fly. That's what I did with Amber's battle too. With several of the battles, actually. Anyway, this isn't the end of the story even though it is the end of the Pokémon League. Just so's you're forewarned.

Just as I was debating whether to write this next paragraph I was debating on whether or not to make Cara win. If she won, it would be predictable. If she lost, she wouldn't be able to meet someone I want her to meet later on. So, with that bit of undecided-ness, enjoy this last battle of the League!

Oh my… this is a very long chapter. My apologies. ^-^'

Polaris-Ponyta, Charren-Charizard, Blossom-Venusaur, Hurrico-Blastoise, Pooka-Pikachu, Ferry-Lapras

Duel for the Championship

Ben, Amber and I watched in fascination as the boy Josh fought the last remaining competitor. It was a long battle, but Josh kept the upper hand and it ended in a spectacular fiery display by his Charizard. His opponent didn't stand a chance.

And I'd be fighting him the next morning.

Amber, Ben and I went to dinner again. The two of them talked and laughed. I tried to join in, but nerves were killing me. My stomach had a flock of Butterfree flitting around inside. Ben noticed my shaky laughs and odd smiles, but he didn't say anything about it.

The restaurant was packed with an enthusiastic, chattering crowd. They were all eager to see the battle tomorrow. My battle. The fact that they were all there to see me the next morning was an odd thought.

I gave a little shiver.

"Hey! Hey, there you are!"

The three of us turned to see a boy coming towards us. It was Josh. There was a girl with him who was a little younger than him, maybe a year older than me. She had short straight red hair and freckles.

Josh waved. "Cara, we're gonna battle each other tomorrow, huh? Ah, this is my sister, Sasha. She's been training in the Orange Islands. Do you know where that is? Sasha, this is Cara. And her friends…"

"I'm Amber," she said brightly.

"Ben," Ben said with a little wave.

Sasha smiled shyly and gave a little wave. "Nice to meet you. I didn't sign up for the League. I'm not strong enough. I came to watch Josh."

"My other sister, Tiffany, couldn't come," Josh explained. "She's busy. She's a Pokémon researcher."

"You're whole family likes Pokémon then, huh?" Amber asked, smiling.

"Yeah, I guess," Josh said, rubbing the back of his head.

"You can sit down," I said, gesturing to a seat next to our table. "We just finished dinner." It was hard trying to keep my voice calm. Tomorrow I'd be fighting this boy. I honestly didn't know if I was as good as him. There was such power behind his attacks. Could my strategy overcome such pure strength? I knew my Pokémon were strong, but I didn't think Charrren would be able to match that fiery display that Josh's Charizard had put on.

"I guess we can sit for a minute," Josh agreed. "I don't want to stay too long because I need to plan tomorrow's match."

I nodded slowly. Some amount of planning was good. I'd done research on the Pokémon that Josh would be using. But there was only so much you could study for beforehand. So much of it came down to thinking fast. We'd have to be ready for anything.

And I wanted to think more about how to get past Josh's strength. I'd heard that the bigger they are, the harder they fall. But you needed to know how to make them fall. In judo or something, a small person could easily flip a larger person if they were both positioned correctly. But it wouldn't work if you didn't know what you were doing. I'd need to find those moves that would let me beat someone with stronger attacks them my team.

"I warn you though," Amber said with a laugh, "We'll be voting for Cara!"

That night as I lay in bed with my eyes shut, the nervous feeling only got worse. If I stayed in bed for another couple hours, I might eventually drift off. I was tempted to have Blossom use Sleep Powder on me.

Finally I stood up and slipped silently out of the room, careful not to wake Ben up.

It was cold out, but I didn't care. Even in my night shirt and pants, I didn't much notice the chill in the air. I found that my feet brought me into the stadium. I stood in the bleachers, overlooking the empty arena where my last match would be fought. I gave an involuntary shiver, only partly from the cold.

"You couldn't sleep either, huh?"

I jumped and turned around. Josh was sitting on the bleachers behind me. It was dark so that I hadn't seen him.

"Ah, yeah," I muttered.

"Same here."

Josh stood up and stretched. "Tomorrow's the big day, huh?"

I nodded. I was shaking slightly from the cold, though I didn't really notice it. Josh did.

"You shouldn't be out here in the cold with only a shirt on. You don't want to get a chill before the match."

"Oh, it's fine. I don't get cold too easily."

"Your body says differently. It wouldn't be shivering if it weren't cold."

I shrugged. "Yeah."

"How old are you?"

I blinked. "I'll be 11 in just a few days."

"Really? Well, Happy Birthday. By the way, I'm 14."

I nodded. "When did you start training Pokémon?"

Josh shrugged. "About your age, I guess. 10, like most people. But I had my Charmander before that. Did you start at 10?"

I nodded.

"I think that there have been a few first year trainers that have won the Pokémon League," he said thoughtfully. "I don't know how many though. Will you be sad if you loose?"

I blinked and looked over at him.

Josh opened his mouth for a moment. "Ah!" He raised his arms. "I don't mean to say that you're gonna lose! I'm just wondering. I mean, I won't be happy if I lose. It would be hard to be so close and fall short of the top. But still, it's hard not to be satisfied with how far you've come. And no matter what happens, one of us will get first place and one of us will get second place."

I nodded. "Yeah. Same here. Have you fought the Pokémon League before?"

"Yeah. After my first year I challenged it. I got to the first round after preliminaries and then I lost. So I went out and trained for three more years and here I am again. I got further than I did last time, at least. Though ya never know who'll come along. You look pretty tough for a first year trainer."

"Thanks." I gave another little shiver.

"Let's go back inside," Josh said. "You look cold, and we'll both need our sleep for tomorrow."

It was time. The final match. Oh, jeez I was nervous. All night I had been tempted to let my Pokémon out of their Pokéballs to sit with me, but I was afraid that they'd get nervous too if they came out of their cozy Pokéballs. And since this was the last match, they'd all be fighting. My whole team. I did eventually fall asleep.

It was my last time standing on the field. Across the stadium, Josh raised his hand in greeting. I returned the gesture and attempted to take a deep, calming breath. It didn't work.

The referee gave the signal to start. I jumped at the noise and blinked up at the stadium full of wildly cheering onlookers. There were Ben and Amber. And my parents not far from them. And I even saw Professor Oak.

I quickly hurled out my Pokéball. Josh had released Tauros. I sent out Ferry. That wasn't too bad. Lapras wouldn't be able to move much on land, but Tauros didn't have many special attacks, so he couldn't attack from a distance. Ferry would be able to use ice and water attacks to attack from afar. Hopefully wouldn't need to dodge too much.

Tauros reared up and unleashed a bellow. When his hooves met the earth again, he shot forwards like a torpedo.

Ferry unleashed a torrent of water that washed Tauros off his feet. Ferry quickly used Ice Beam, freezing Tauros's hooves into the ground.

Tauros couldn't move. Ferry began bombarding him with Water Gun and Ice Beam. The attacks obscured my vision of Tauros so I didn't see him. Tauros was glowing red. Suddenly he tossed his head back, released a bellow, and wrenched free from the ice. He thundered towards Lapras, with that red aura swirling about him. He'd used rage. All those attacks from Ferry had been enough to increase Tauros's rage to the max. His head slammed into Ferry's chest with such force that she was lifted off of the ground and flung onto her back. Tauros's hooves finished the job within moments.

I stared, stunned. Doubtless when Josh saw me release Lapras, he realized that I'd probably do something with ice, and he's used rage right away, letting Polaris slowly pound away at Tauros while Tauros himself was gaining power. Already I was one Pokémon down.

I thought fast. What would be best to fight Tauros? Something that could easily avoid its attacks. That means…

I sent out Charren next. Josh immediately recalled Tauros and sent out his own Charizard. I tensed. I'd hoped to count on staying on top of my opponent by using type to my advantage. Josh wasn't going to let me do that. He'd force me to battle with Pokémon equal to his.

_Go as fast as you can, Charren! _

Charren gave a nod and swooped off to one side. Josh's Charizard took off after her. The two looped and swirled through the air in an amazing ballet that held the crowd spellbound.

Charren was faster. Josh knew it. So why was he letting the two chase around like this? I wasn't going to continue this wild chase if it might be playing into Josh's hands.

Charren whirled around in mid-air and slammed her head directly into her opponent's head. Charizard lurched back dizzily, giving Charren time to use Mega Punch and send Charizard reeling. She followed with a blast of flame at Charizard. It hit his wing, making him curl it up in pain. He dropped out of the air, but as he did so, his jaws closed around Charren's tail and he dragged her down with him. He let himself drop like a stone, and he twisted the struggling Charren around so that she was under him. She hit the ground hard and the other Charizard was on her in an instant, blasting searing fire onto her. Charren pushed herself free and staggered backwards, panting.

Josh's Charizard beat his wings heavily. The one wing had been injured from the attack, but it didn't seem to stop him from flying.

Charren remained on the ground. But Josh didn't attack. His Charizard just hovered there above the field. Why wasn't he fighting?

What could I do? My mind raced. Maybe… It might work depending on how many more attacks Charren could take. Would it be enough to build up Rage?

Charren shifted slightly, warily watching the Charizard circling above her. It was a waiting game. That couldn't mean tat Josh was planning the same thing as me, could it? No, he'd already used the Rage tactic with Tauros. He was probably faking to confuse me. Like Amber had done.

Charren sent out Flamethrower in an attempt to get things moving again. Charizard dodged and shot downwards. At the bottom of his dive, he released a burst of flame that engulfed Charren. She crashed to the stadium floor in defeat. I stared, speechless. I'd already lost two of my team while defeating none of his.

I sent out Hurrico.

Josh recalled his Charizard and sent out Sandshrew.

Sandshrew? Against a Blastoise? And every time I sent out a new Pokémon, Josh did the same. He wasn't letting any of my fresh Pokémon take on his tired ones. If he kept this up, I'd lose too many Pokémon to take out the ones that still had a little HP left.

Sandshrew dove straight into the ground.

Hurrico stomped to the hole and pointed his cannons down at it. He released a torrent of water that flooded down into Sandshrew's tunnel.

Suddenly, a geyser of water erupted from the ground behind Hurrico with Sandshrew riding on top of it. Sandshrew had built a canal for the water and was riding Hurrico's attack! Josh had expected this!

Sandshrew leapt off of the fountain, straight down on top of Hurrico and aimed Poison Sting at his head.

Hurrico withdrew into his shell just in time. Sandshrew shot back underground. Hurrico slowly poked his head out to peek around. He then emerged completely and pushed himself to his feet. Sandshrew was nowhere to be seen.

For almost a minute, nothing happened.

Then the ground shifted.

"Look out!"

Hurrico was too slow. A hunk of floor gave way under Blastoise's feet, sending him tumbling into a pit. Sandshrew had dug a trap. This Sandshrew was a fast tunnler.

And Hurrico wouldn't be able to climb out of that pit. He wasn't agile enough.

More importantly, where was Sandshrew? Now that part of the ground had caved in, I could see part of the network of holes that Sandshrew had dug through the stadium.

Hurrico turned to one of the burrows and pointed his water cannons at it. Instantly, Sandshrew came bursting out of the same hole and used Scratch. Before Hurrico could react, Sandshrew diappeared into another hole.

_Stand in the middle of the hole! Away from the sides! _

Hurrico quickly stepped to the center of the sand trap.

_Listen for Sandshrew. When you hear it, attack. _

Hurrico shut his eyes, listening closely for the scratching of Sandshrew's claws in the dirt. The moment the scratching got louder, Hurrico angled his cannons and sent out a torrent of water. It blasted away the sides of the pit. A huge portion of the stadium had been weakened by Sandshrew's tunnels, and as the water hit it, it collapsed and turned half the stadium into a muddy soup.

The pit Hurrico was standing in quickly began to fill with water. Sandshrew was flooded from the burrow and washed into the hole with Hurrico. But a moment later, the thick mud had risen above Hurrico's head. It was too thick for him to swim in, and it was too thin for Sandshrew to burrow through.

The time stretched on as the crowd watched the surface of the muddy pond settle. I gulped. Would either of them make it out?

Then a bubbling beneath the surface made everyone tense. A moment later, a huge shape launched out of the mud pit, spraying the muck in every direction. Hurrico had pointed his water cannons downwards and used them like a rocket launcher to shoot himself up and out of the mud.

He landed with a thud in knee-deep mud and shuffled over to the dry half of the stadium.

But where was Sandshrew?

Hurrico bent over and set what looked like a big clump of mud on the ground. The crowd let out a sigh as they realized that the clump of mud was, in fact, the unconscious Sandshrew.

I grinned and gave Hurrico the thumbs up for saving his opponent.

Josh returned his Sandshrew and sent out Scyther.

I decided to play at Josh's game. I returned the mud-covered Hurrico and sent out Blossom.

Blossom waded down into the mud and sat there, shuffling to and fro. She enjoyed a mud bath.

The crowd giggled as they watched Venusaur enjoying herself. But this wasn't time for fun.

Scyther used her wings to hover over the dangerously soft field. She swooped down at Blossom with his scythes outstretched.

A vine shot out from the mud and twined itself around Scyther, dragging her down into the swamp.

While Blossom looked like she was enjoying herself in the mud, she had been spreading her vines through the soft soil to make a network of booby traps.

Scyther flopped helplessly in the deepest part of the mud. She lashed out with his scythes, making Blossom withdraw her vine. Scyther vibrated her wings to shake most of the mud loose and then tried to fly back up into the air. The mud clung tightly to her feet until she finally managed to pull free and fly over the field again.

She swooped in for another attack, but a forest of vines shot up from the mud and swatted at Scyther. Scyther dodged furiously through them and came in and used Slash at Blossom.

The net of vines closed in on Scyther, wrapping her up like a spider's victim. Then Blossom let out a Solar Beam that she'd been charging. It engulfed Scyther and she fell limp.

Now we were even. We'd each lost 2 Pokémon.

Josh sent out Drowzee next.

I forgot about changing Pokémon. And before I could make a move, Drowzee had used Hypnosis.

Blossom's eyes drooped and she sank down into the mud fast asleep.

I sighed and returned her. That had been quick.

I sent out Pooka next. He would be fast enough to dodge most of Drowzee's Hypnosis attacks.

The two combatants were on the dry half of the arena. Pooka turned and dashed into the mud. He was light enough that he didn't sink too far into the soft terrain as long as he kept moving.

Drowzee was bigger and heavier. He wouldn't be able to move around so freely.

Drowzee shot a beam of psychic energy at Pooka, but Pikachu's Agility allowed him to dodge.

Pooka paused when he found a slightly stable patch of ground.

Then Drowzee used Disable.

Pooka froze as the attack took hold of him. Then Drowzee began to wave his arms in the strange process of Hypnosis.

I smiled. Exactly what I was hoping for.

The moment Pooka had paused, he'd set up a Light Screen. It was nearly invisible and Drowzee didn't see it. The waves from Hypnosis hit the Light Screen and reflected back to its source. This time it was Drowzee's eyes that drooped and he fell to the ground, snoring.

Once again, Josh and I were even.

Josh sent out his Raichu.

Raichu too was heavier than Pooka. He wouldn't be able to walk on the mud very easily.

Raichu stood on solid ground, eying Pooka who was far away, still on the stable patch of the swamp.

Raichu tucked her tail up under herself and used it as a spring. She launched up into the air, straight for Pooka.

Pooka took off across the mud again, narrowly avoiding the Raichu missile. Raichu landed and sank a foot into the soft ground.

Pooka paused and turned back. He used Thunder. The attack Struck Raichu, but it had absolutely no effect.

I saw why. Raichu had thrust her tail into the mud and was channeling the electricity down into the earth.

We'd got nowhere this way. But maybe… I wasn't sure if it would work. There was so much earth in the water that electricity might no longer move through it. But if it did…

Pooka mimicked Raichu's moves by sinking his tail down into the mud. He began discharging electricity down into the mud.

Once again, nothing happened. Raichu had pulled his tail free.

Luckily Raichu couldn't really move. The ground was too soft for her to spring into the air with her tail, and she'd sink if she moved in any other direction.

Raichu used Thunder. It struck Pooka and he cried out as the powerful attack hit. Pooka didn't have the endurance to channel that electricity into the ground like Raichu had done, eeven though his tail was still underground.

Pooka tottered back and forth for a moment dizzily.

_Pretend to attack! _

Pooka gave a nod and began to spark again.

On cue, Raichu burrowed his tail into the mud again.

But Pooka released the electricity through his tail into the ground. The moist earth channeled the energy until it came to Raichu's tail. The attack hit and Raichu reeled back, pulling her tail free again.

I returned Pooka and sent out Polaris. I always save her for the end pf the battle because I knew she couldn't take too many attacks. But she could do pretty good damage.

Polaris couldn't walk on the mud. She'd sink right down into it. So, she aimed her flames at the floor, baking the ground into clay as the heat caused the water to evaporate. She created a path and started heading towards Raichu.

Raichu still couldn't move from where she was sitting. So instead, she started shooting sparks at Polaris. Polaris leapt up into the air to avoid them and shot Flamethrower down at Raichu.

Polaris landed and turned to face her opponent. But Raichu was already down.

Josh sent out Tauros again.

Tauros used Rest.

Instead of attacking the sleeping Tauros, Polaris used Flamethrower around the entire field, drying the ground once more. Except for the deepest patch where Sandshrew had dug the trap. A thin crust formed over it, hiding it from view.

Tauros woke up from Rest and slammed his hooves into the ground, using Earthquake.

Polaris staggered sideways as the ground cracked beneath her feet.

She jumped in desperation, trying to avoid most of the attack, but her foot slipped as she landed and she went down.

Tauros charged with Take Down and before Polaris could move, he'd collided with her, sending her splaying on her back. Tauros charged again and Polaris flailed her hooves, kicking Tauros and making him step back.

Polaris scrambled to her feet. I could tell that she'd hurt her leg.

I returned her and sent out Hurrico again.

Tauros used Earthquake again, and as Hurrico was taken off balance, Tauros charged forwards and used Stomp on Blastoise's shell, cracking it.

Hurrico staggered and fell before he even got one attack in.

I released Pooka. All I had was him and my injured Polaris. Josh had Tauros, almost at full health, and his Charizard. How would I beat that Charizard?

Pooka faced Tauros from across the stadium. Tauros charged. Pooka took off, letting Tauros chase him.

Pooka's light body easily passed over the mud pit that Polaris had hidden. Tauros didn't notice and thundered right over the soft spot.

The dry layer cracked and Tauros was plunged into the mud.

Pooka turned and used Thunder, and Tauros didn't stand a chance. He fainted.

My fists were clenched so tight that they were starting to ache, but I hardly noticed. This was what battling was about! Excitement and adrenalin shut out all else.

Josh sent out his last Pokémon, Charizard.

Pooka used Double Team, filling the stadium with his copies. Charizard flew overhead and blasted fire down, making several of the copies vanish. The rest remained.

Charizard swooped low towards a thick patch of Pikachu illusions.

Suddenly all of them disappeared and Charizard screeched to a halt. Behind him, the real Pooka leapt into the air and landed on Charizard's head. Pooka released a spectacular shower of sparks that made Charizard let out a deafening roar and drop out of the air.

Charizard reached back and yanked Pooka off his head, throwing him to the ground. He opened his jaws and unleashed a fiery blaze that knocked Pooka out in an instant.

Trembling, I returned Pooka. We were each down to our last Pokémon.

I sent out Polaris.

She looked so helpless, standing there favoring her fore-hoof. Charizard faced her for a moment and then took to the air again. HE couldn't fly very high since he was so close to fainting.

Polaris opened her mouth and unleashed Fire Spin.

The fiery tornado raged towards Charizard. Charizard pumped his wings, causing a gust that slowly stopped the progress of Fire Spin. Polaris used Flamethrower against the side of the fire vortex to try to push it forwards, but Charizard's wind was stronger and was slowly pushing Fire Spin back towards Polaris.

Then Ponyta's fire failed her. The Fire Spin rushed back and engulfed Polaris.

Slowly the Fire Spin diminished. The crowd gasped. Polaris was gone. Charizard stared blankly at the spot where Polaris should have been.

I slowly smiled. At the last moment when Polaris stopped using Flamethrower, she had used Double Team. She only had the strength to make one double but that was all that was needed.

The real Polaris leapt up behind Charizard, using her three good hooves.

Charizard turned and saw Polaris coming at him, but he didn't have time to move. Polaris slammed her hooves into the back of his head and the two of the fell to the ground. Polaris landed on top of Charizard and opened her mouth to send out one last Flamethrower.

As the smoke cleared, Polaris limped off of Charizard and stood beside her fallen opponent.

The battle was over. How could it be over again? My mind was still reeling, desperately searching for the next attack to use. It hadn't grasped the fact that my last foe was down.

For several moments, there was dead silence. Then the crowd erupted into a deafening roar. I jumped, the noise shaking me out of my stupefied daze.

I blinked and looked up at the crowd. Every one of them was standing and shouting and clapping. There were my parents. Dad was giving a shrill whistle that was lost in the din. Mom was clapping with her hands over her head. I saw Ben and Amber. Ben was shouting his lungs out. Amber leapt at him and threw her arms around his neck, screaming wildly.

There was Josh across the field. He'd returned his Charizard. I caught his eye and he gave me the thumbs up.

Then I realized that I had won. I'd won the Pokémon League.

I felt something touch my shoulder and I turned to see Polaris nuzzling me.

For a moment, I blinked at her, and then I grinned and flung my arms around her and buried my face in her neck.

I realized that there were tears coming from my eyes when I felt water on my cheek.

I laughed out loud and thrust my fist into the air. Polaris calmly tossed her mane and blinked up at the crowd.

We had won. We had defeated the Pokémon League.


	29. The Dark and Light Eevee

For anyone who plans on reading the Pokémon Adventures manga, there's slight spoilers for the Yellow chapters. If you know who Yellow is, or you don't care, then you don't need to worry. ^-^ Anyway, since Yellow is my favorite character in that series, I though I'd include Yellow in at least one of my chapters.

Haha! It's funny to write about the Pokémon League during the Olympics since they're essentially parallel events.

Polaris-Ponyta, Ferry-Lapras, Charren-Charizard, Jarday-Jolteon, Flarga-Flareon, Vaardesh-Vaporeon,

The Dark and Light Eevee

After the closing ceremonies, I found myself surrounded by family and friends. Mom, Dad, Amber, Ben, and Professor Oak. Josh was there too, to congratulate me. I don't think in my life I'd ever been so energized. Or popular, for that matter.

Mom and Dad gave Ben and I a ride home to Aqua Town. Amber promised to drop by a little later as well.

We were going to have a great party. Bens family and my family would be there. My parents had called relatives and family friends. Our old friends from Aqua Town were there as well. Victor and his Pooka were included.

I also found my mail box filled with cards from people we'd met on our journey-people who had seen the League on TV. Mary, the girl who I'd helped catch her first Pokémon, Lara, the Ponyta trainer, Lan, the biker who helped be rescue the Eevee, and even the gym leaders.

It was a great party. It was so nice to be home and see my old friends and my family again. I'd forgotten how fun it could be. I had to visit home more often.

It wasn't until the people started leaving that Victor pulled me aside.

"Hey," he said with a smile. "I know I said it already, but congratulations. I see that that Lapras you caught really came in handy."

I laughed. That's right. Victor had been there when I caught Ferry. "Yes. She's great."

"By the way," he continued, "On the way here, I heard an interesting rumor that I thought you would find interesting. By Viridian Forest, people say there's a Pokémon thief."

I immediately thought that he was talking about Team Rocket. "You mean people stealing Pokémon?"

Victor laughed. "No, I mean Pokémon stealing things. People who pass through Viridian Forest have things missing, and they say that a Pokémon is doing it."

"Huh. Maybe a Meowth, or something. Meowth like to collect shiny things."

"Maybe."

"Except Meowth don't live in Viridian Forest. Maybe a person is making their Pokémon steal things."

Anyway, I was determined to check it out.

The next morning, I woke up early and swapped my team around a bit. Now that the Pokémon League was over, I wanted to get some of my other Pokémon stronger. I did keep Charren with me because I'd need to use her Fly ability to get to Viridian Forest. I also brought my three Eevee evolutions into my team. After the Pokémon I had used for the League, those three were some of my best.

I left a note for my parents saying that I'd be back soon. I hopped on Charren's back and we flew off towards Viridian Forest.

It didn't take long to get there. We touched down where the path entered the forest.

I released my Vaporeon, Jolteon, and Flareon. I returned Charizard. She was too big to be comfortable in a forest.

"All right, you guys. Keep your eyes open. Your ears and noses too, I guess. I think if we stick to the path, this 'thief' should come out. Since travelers are missing things, it's probably cause this thief will come onto the road to take them.."

The three of them nodded and we set off down the path.

It was only a few moments later when Flarga raised his head and sniffed the air.

_I smell a human. _

"Oh? Think we should investigate?"

_Yeah!_ Jardayexclaimed. She took off into the bushes.Flarga and Vaardesh followed.

I smiled and stepped off the path after them.

I had already lost sight of them, but I could hear them ahead of me, prancing through the bushes.

Then they stopped.

I tensed slightly and quickened my pace. Had something gone wrong?

The three of them were standing at the edge of a patch of forest that was free of brush. But I didn't see them in time to react, and my foot caught on Flarga's middle. I toppled headfirst to the forest floor as Flarga let out a frightened squeak when my foot hit his side.

Somehow I managed to land without crushing my face into the dirt.

I sat up, rubbing my elbow and turned on my three Pokémon.

"What was that for," I hissed.

_I didn't do it on purpose, _Flarga whimpered.

_Besides, look! _Vaardesh said, pointing his nose to a point off to the side.

I followed his gaze.

There was a boy there, leaning against a tree, fast asleep. My dramatic arrival hadn't woken him up, but his Pokémon were staring at me. All of them were out of their Pokéballs. I glanced over all of them. There was a Raticate, a Pikachu, Butterfree, Omastar, Golem, and Dodrio.

For a while, we all stared at each other, the boy continuing to sleep soundly. He had blonde hair and wore a yellow shirt. There was a wide-brimmed straw hat sitting crooked on his head with two feathers stuck in the band. He looked about my age.

"Ah," I muttered, not sure what to do. "Er, excuse me… are you awake?"

He shifted a bit, and then stretched, yawning widely. He finally sat up and his eyes fell on me.

"Oh, hi!"

I paused. He looked like a boy, but that didn't seem right now that he (er, she?) was talking.

"Uh, hi. Listen… I heard about a Pokémon that was stealing stuff, so I came to investigate. Do you know anything?"

It was possible that she (for I was pretty certain that she was a girl) was behind the thefts, but I highly doubted it. She didn't, well, put off bad vibes.

"Oh, are you here for that too?" she exclaimed brightly. "I'm trying to find out about it also."

Then she saw my three Pokémon.

"Oh! You have Eevee! Just like Red! How did you get three of them? I thought they were pretty rare."

"I guess they are. I rescued them." I had no idea who Red was.

She stood and walked over to me. She knelt next to my Pokémon and placed her hand over Jarday's head. She shut her eyes for a moment, and then looked up at me.

"Yeah. You got them near Celadon? That's where Red got his Eevee."

I stared at her. "How'd you know I got them at Celadon?"

She shrugged. "He told me."

I stared at her.

"You mean you can talk to Pokémon too?" I blurted, without thinking.

"Too?" she repeated. "Do you know someone else who can read their thoughts?"

"Yeah. _ I_ can."

"Really?" She lit up.

"Uh huh. I have some psychic powers." I rubbed the back of my head. I usually didn't mention this to people. But she could do it too, so I didn't feel too bad telling her. And her powers seemed to work differently than mine. From the way she behaved, she had to be almost touching the Pokémon to read their thoughts. I didn't have to be that close to Pokémon to use telepathy.

"Oh, my name's Cara by the way."

"I'm Yellow."

Yellow… is a strange name. But oh well.

"If you were trying to find this Pokémon," I said, "Then why were you sleeping?"

Yellow gave a little laugh. "I was asking some of the forest Pokémon if they'd seen anything, and I get tired when I use my powers too much. So I fell asleep."

"Oh."

"We should help each other look!" Yellow exclaimed. "With you to help, I won't get tired as much."

I smiled. She was a bit strange, but I thought that I'd end up liking her. Besides, how often do you meet someone else who can read thoughts of Pokémon?

"Yeah, sure. That would be great."

"Did you learn anything yet? "Yellow asked.

"I just got here. So not yet."

"I heard that this Pokémon is mainly stealing food," Yellow said.

"So, we should set out bait."

Yellow nodded. "I left some food out over there," she pointed to a stump across the clearing, "but we fell asleep so we didn't see it come to take the food."

"A-ah." I shut my eyes for a moment. "Well, I guess that means we should try again."

"Yes. And since that Pokémon came here and took the food already, it might come back again. I was trying to pretend like I was asleep so that it wouldn't be frightened away, but I actually did fall asleep. I won't this time though."

"OK. That's all right."

"I'm out of food though. I used it all before."

I laughed. "Well, I brought some extra. Let me set it out."

I reached into my bag and pulled out a muffin. I set it on the tree stump across the clearing and then Yellow and I sat against the tree with our Pokémon.

Vaardesh jumped up to perch on a branch just above the bait.

"Don't hurt it though," Yellow cautioned.

"I know. We won't."

"Let's pretend like we're not paying attention," Yellow whispered. "So, you're a Pokémon trainer?" She asked, pretending to start a normal conversation.

"Yeah. I am. I started about a year ago."

The two of us continued talking. I was right. I did like Yellow. She was a bit odd, but she was very nice and she loved Pokémon.

After a long time, Yellow reached out and grabbed my wrist.

I gave a slight nod. She'd head something coming.

I continued talking at a slightly lower volume so we could better hear what was going on while still acting normal.

The Pokémon pricked up their ears, and then I heard it too: a slight rustle in the bushes.

Vaardesh and Butterfree waited, and at the moment the Pokémon made a dash for the muffin, Vaardesh leapt out of her hiding place and pinned the thief to the ground.

Yellow and I jumped up and ran over.

We stared. It was an Eevee. His teeth were bared and he was struggling to wriggle free from my Vaporeon's pin, but wasn't strong enough. I noticed that the Eevee had very dark eyes. So dark that they were almost black.

Yellow knelt next to the Eevee.

"Why are you stealing food?" she asked.

_Leave me alone! _

"Wait, we aren't angry. We just want to know!" I quickly added.

_I need it! By brother's hurt! One of you mean humans tried to catch us and he got hurt as we ran away. _

Yellow and I exchanged glances.

"You've been stealing food for your brother?"

_Yes! Let me go! _

"Wait, if he's hurt, we can help him get better," Yellow assured the Eevee.

He turned and looked up at us. _You'll try to catch us again. _

"No, we won't." Yellow gestured back at her Pokémon team. "See, I already have my team of friends. Besides, I'm no good at catching Pokémon. Really, we only want to help you guys."

The Eevee looked down at the ground. _Well… if you really can help him… _

"Yes, I have medicine," I said quickly.

"We don't need medicine," Yellow said. "Take us there though."

Vaardesh released Eevee and he stepped away and shook himself off. He went to take a step and stumbled. His foreleg was injured.

"You're hurt too," Yellow said.

_I'm fine. _

"Hang on. I'll fix it."

Yellow placed her hand on Eevee's shoulder. A relaxed expression came to Eevee's face.

_Oh, that does feel better. _

"You can heal Pokémon by touching them!" I exclaimed.

Yellow shrugged and followed the Eevee as he walked deeper into the forest. She paused to return her Pokémon. I returned mine as well.

We continued deeper into Viridian Forest. Eevee threaded through the branches that Yellow and I had to push aside or duck under.

We found ourselves at a rocky patch with a sprig nestled in it. Beside a boulder was a little nest of weeds. There was a second Eevee huddled in the nest. He was breathing rather fast and his fur was mussed up.

He opened his eyes. They were a pale lavender color. He blinked up at us.

_Humans? _His easy cocked in a quizzical manner that made me grin.

"It's OK. We won't hurt you."

"How did you two get out here?" Yellow asked.

_I dunno, _muttered the first Eevee, with the dark eyes. _We got lost. _

"Where do you come from?" I added.

The two Eevee exchanged glances.

_I don't really know, _Said the first Eevee.

_We used to live somewhere else, _continued the Eevee with lavender eyes, _But we got lost and ended up here. It's kinda scary in the forest though. _

"Oh. Well, why don't you come with me then?" I asked.

_Could we? _The light Eevee asked hopefully.

The dark Eevee crouched a bit lower to the ground. _Go with a human? But humans attacked us! _

_These humans are nice. _

The first Eevee gave a little sigh. _Well… I suppose… _

"I can feed you too," I added quickly.

_Yaay! _Cried the second Eevee. _OK, we'll go with you! _

_Fine, _added the first Eevee grudgingly. _I guess so. _

_My name's Eon, _said the pale-eyed Eevee.

_I'm Uber. _

I smiled. Uber was a funny name, but it was cute. Ignoring its definition, it sounded like a fitting name for the little guy. The two names had a certain ring when said together.

I turned back to Yellow only to find her leaning back against a rock, fast asleep. I laughed. Looks like the healing had tired her out again.

"Well, why not." I plopped down beside her and took the two Eevee onto my lap. Eon curled up, and Uber nestled up with him after a moment's hesitation.

I leaned back, looked up at the sky, and smiled.


	30. The Darkness of Eevee

I've just realized that there's almost 100 comments on my story! I'm blown away. Thank you all for your support and your kind words and everything. I still get excited every time I see a new comment on my story. I'm so happy that my newly revised Pokémon thing has so many followers!

Hey, by the way, when I list the nicknames of the Pokémon I use in each chapter, is that actually helpful? Just curious (Now I have to see if anyone replies to this. Hehehe).

Polaris-Ponyta, Eon-Eevee, Uber-Eevee, Jarday-Jolteon, Flarga-Flareon, Vaardesh-Vaporeon.

The Darkness of Eevee

The trilling of the phone brought Erika to answer it.

"Hello? Oh, it's you! How are you? We haven't heard from you in a while. Yes, I remember her. Yes, she beat the Pokémon League. She-- really? O-oh. Did you want me to be there? Oh, OK. Well, I wish her the best of luck, in any case. She'll need it."

When Sabrina answered the phone, she didn't need to ask who was on the line. "Oh, her. I see. Very well."

Blaine, Brock, Lieutenant Surge, the Cerulean Sisters, and Koga all received the same call from the same person. And they all agreed to meet at the same place in a few weeks time-the site of the Pokémon League.

Ben and I remained at home for about a week after the party. Eon and Uber accompanied me home after I bid farewell to Yellow.

After a year on the road, it was nice to relax at home for a while. It was strange to be back in my own room instead of camping out or staying at a Pokémon Center. Ben was at his home too, of course.

Not that we stopped training. I took Eon and Uber out and taught the two Eevee to fight. I couldn't say why, but I had a good feeling about the two. Eon was sweet and easy-going. He could deal out serious damage. Uber was tough and fiercely loyal. He could take a lot of hits without tiring. It took a little while for him to feel comfortable around humans, but now he's more trusting.

They're both pretty tough, considering the stats of Eevee.

It was seven days after the League that I got the letter.

Dear Cara Kellan,

We have heard about your recent victory at the Pokémon League, and we congratulate you.

In one month time, we would like to challenge you to a battle. It will be at the site of the Pokémon League, and you should bring your strongest Team.

Best wishes. We hope to see you soon.

I stared at the letter. There was no signature on it. Whoever "they" were, they believed that they were very strong.

The strongest trainer I ever fought. If that battle had continued, I know I would have lost. I gave a little shudder. Giovanni. At the time, I thought that he was just another gym leader. Who'd have thought that he was the leader of Team Rocket?

This letter couldn't possibly be a trap, could it? It might even be from Giovanni himself. Just the fact that we hadn't heard from him since our last encounter was… suspicious. Not that I was at all sad. As far as I was concerned, I never wanted to see him again. Just let him forget about us. But he didn't seem like a guy to let go of a grudge. He seemed more like the kind of person who would want revenge.

I didn't want to think about it but… I should keep on my toes.

So, either way, could this letter be a sort of trap? How could I find out?

Of course. If the writers of the letter (It sounded like there was more than one of them) were as strong as they said they were, the gym leaders might know about it.

I went over to the phone and drummed my fingers on the counter. I had seven options. Which gym leader should I call?

Erika or Sabrina, I suppose. Sabrina would remember me since she gave me some lessons on telepathy. Erika would remember me too since Ben and I helped her with a fire in Celadon City. Well, Erika was a bit more cheerful than Sabrina. More fun to talk with. I'd go with her.

I dialed up the Celadon City gym.

"Hello," answered an unfamiliar female voice. "This is the Celadon City gym. How may I help you?"

"I'd like to speak to Erika please."

"May I ask who's calling?"

"It's Cara. I battled her a few months ago. She just watched me fight in the Pokémon League."

"Just a minute. I'll see if she's available."

I leaned against the wall, tapping my foot as I waited. Finally I heard Erika's voice on the line.

"Hello, Cara! How are you!"

"Oh, I'm good."

"Relaxing after the League, huh?"

"Yeah, some. I've been training too, though. I have a couple new Pokémon. But anyway, I have a question. I just got a letter in the mail challenging me to a battle in a few weeks. They said they're really strong and there wasn't a signature or anything. I wanted to check if you know anything about it."

Erika laughed. "Ah, yes. No signature. I suppose they're trying to be mysterious. Anyway, yes. You should definitely go. It will be well worth your while. Make sure you're prepared for a great battle though."

"Ah, thanks."

Not that that answered any of my questions.

So, of course I had to call Ben and tell him.

"So, you don't know who this challenge is from?" Ben asked. We were sitting in my front yard late that evening with Eon curled on Ben's lap and Uber on mine. Uber still refused to cuddle with any human besides me (and Yellow too) but he tolerated other humans at least.

"Yeah. Not a clue."

"So then, what team will you use?"

"Well, I'll use Polaris."

"Of course."

"And…"

Ben gave a small snort.

"What?"

"I still don't understand how your Ponyta is so tough. Ponyta aren't supposed to be so strong."

"That's because you haven't heard about the world's strongest Magicarp."

"_Excuse _me?"

I continued as though he hadn't interrupted me. "So, I think I'll use different than I did in the League. I'll use my three Eevee evolutions. And that leaves me with two spots in my team."

"So, you got Ponyta, Vaporeon, Jolteon, and Flareon. Who else do you think you'll use?"

"I could choose from a lot of Pokémon. I already have two fire types, so I shouldn't use Charizard or Ninetales. And I have an electric type, so I shouldn't use Pooka. And Vaporeon is a water type, so I should rule out Gyarados, Lapras, Blastoise and Poliwhirl too. That leaves Venusaur, Alakazam, and Scyther. And…"

Uber stretched and yawned before curling up again. It was getting dark out. The front porch light was now the only thing casting light.

Ben gave a little laugh and scratched Eon behind the ears as he said, "You should use these two guys! Stick with the Eevee theme, huh?"

"Maybe."

Ben stared at me. "Now hang on. I wasn't serious. You've only had these guys for a week!"

"Yeah. And they're pretty tough too."

"But Eevee know hardly any attacks! And they don't have very good stats!"

"Neither do Ponyta."

"You should at least evolve them!"

Uber raised his head and stared at me with his dark-colored eyes. They really were beautiful eyes-nearly black with a faint reddish core to them.

_You mean you might actually use us? In your big battle? _Uber gazed at me wide-eyed, sounding fascinated.

"Possibly. I haven't decided yet, but you're on the short list of who I might use."

_You mean you think we're good enough to fight these guys? _

"I think you could, yes."

Eon had his ears pricked up and he was watching me too.

Uber gave a happy squeal and jumped into my arms.

_Ooh, that's cool! That's so neat! Eon, aren't you excited? _

_Yes! _

_Ooh, a battle! Wow! I'm excited! COOL! _

Uber suddenly began to glow.

I gave a start and stared at him. He was evolving! But how was that possible? I hadn't used an evolution stone on him!

Uber began to grow. His body became sleeker and sturdier. And when the light faded, I found myself holding a black Pokémon with yellow rings on his shoulders, hips, and forehead.

I stroked his head as he nuzzled me.

"Wow, Uber. What on Earth did you turn into? I've never seen a Pokémon like you."

"Breeon, Umbreon," Uber sighed."

"Umbreon," I repeated. "I guess you're an Umbreon, huh?" I grinned broadly. Umbreon! A new Pokémon evolving right in my arms! The broad grin refused to leave my face, I was so energized. How COOL!

I should call Professor Oak! I wonder if he'd ever heard of anything like this before.

"Well, whaddya know?" I laughed. "I just got a new unknown Pokémon to use in my big battle. Eon, Uber, I'll use both of you!"

Eon jumped onto my lap too and I hugged both of them. Ben just looked bewildered.

The front door opened and Mom walked out.

"Cara, you have a phone call."

Ben bid me farewell and headed home. I brought Eon and Uber inside and picked up the phone.

It was Blaine.

"Hey, Cara. I hear you talked to Erika today, and you received the invitation as well."

_The invitation_? He sounded like he'd heard about it before…

"And they didn't sign it, right?"

"No, no one's told me who I'm battling."

"Well, as much as I enjoy riddles, they're not fair if you don't have any clues. They may think they're being clever by not telling you, but they didn't say we had to keep it secret. Erika probably wanted to follow their example, but I think you should know who you're going up against. The people who sent you the challenge letter are the Elite Four."


	31. The First of Four: Ice

So, number of comments is officially over 100! I still get excited every time I get a new one though. I think most authors love to hear that people are enjoying their work, and I'm like that too! Thanks again, everyone! I love to hear from you!

Polaris-Ponyta, Eon-Eevee, Uber-Umbreon, Jarday-Jolteon, Vaardesh-Vaporeon, Flarga-Flareon

The First of Four: Ice

It was like a balloon with a slow leak. I felt deflated.

I sank onto the couch with a sigh. Eon and Uber watched me curiously.

_What's the Elite Four? _Eon asked, jumping up to sit next to me.

"Ah, they're supposed to be the strongest four trainers in all of Kanto. Any trainer who knows anything knows that. That's how tough they are-their reputation is that wide-spread."

_Wow, _Uber said, jumping up o the couch next to me. _That sounds fun though! To fight people who are so tough! And they must think you stand a good chance or they wouldn't have challenged you. _

"But what if we lose horribly?" I muttered.

_Then it won't be anything to be sad about, _Eon noted. _You just said they were the four toughest trainers in the area. So no one will care if you lose. _

I looked down at them: the little Eevee and the new Umbreon. Both looked determined to do their best in this fight, despite the odds.

I smiled. "Yeah. You're right. Thanks guys. Now, you, Uber. No one that I know of has ever seen a Pokémon like you before, right? So, that gives us an edge. They won't know what attacks you can use, what type you are, or what attacks are good against you. Admittedly, I have no idea either, but we have a couple weeks to find out. And Eon, you're tough too. They won't think you're tough, so you'll have a chance to catch them off guard. So, let's all of us get training."

Time melted away. The last few days between now and the battle vanished in a puff of smoke.

And the night before the big challenge, I was nervous again.

This time, in my own bedroom, I let out all my Pokémon. My family of five Eevee all snuggled into bed with me and Polaris stood next to my bed where I could pat her head.

_So, it's tomorrow, huh? _I asked my Pokémon.

_Are you nervous? _Polaris asked.

_Of course. _

_Why? _

I snorted. _Because we're going against the Elite Four! _

_Why does that mean you're nervous? _

_You never get nervous, Polaris. _

_I'm excited! _Eon chipped in.

The other Eevee chimed in agreement.

I laughed. _Yeah. I'm glad you guys aren't worried about losing. We don't lose that much, do we? I guess if you think about it, we didn't even officially lose to Giovanni either because he called off the match before he beat us. _

_I remember that, _Polaris sighed. _That was… tough. _

_I don't remember it, _said Flarga.

_Because we weren't there, silly, _Vaardesh chided.

_Oh. I remember now. _

Jarday giggled.

I smiled. The five of them really did seem like a family. Vaardesh, Jarday, and Flarga had adopted Eon and Uber with great enthusiasm. They really did make a good team. And they didn't act at all like we were about to go up in the biggest fight of our lives.

That was comforting. I drifted off to sleep surrounded by my friends.

The next morning as I stepped outside to head off to Viridian City, I found Ben sitting there on the steps. He'd helped me train in the weeks leading up to the big battle.

Ben stood up as I emerged from the house.

"Hey. What's up?"

"What do you think? I'm going with you."

"What?"

"I'm coming."

"Oh, OK." Actually, I was glad. This was a private battle, unlike the crowds that gathered at the Pokémon League. So it was nice to know that Ben would be there to cheer me on.

"And this way you don't need to get your Charizard out to fly to Viridian," Ben noted. "We can use my Pidgoet."

I smiled. "Yeah."

It didn't take long to reach the big arena where the Pokémon League had been barely a month ago. But now the auditorium was completely deserted.

Pidgeot landed in the arena and Ben and I slid onto the ground.

The two of us glanced around. Sure enough, there was a person sitting in the stands across from us.

She stood up and vaulted over the railing, into the arena.

Lorelei, the master if ice Pokémon.

I gulped.

"Cara, I presume?" she asked coolly.

"Yeah. I'm Cara."

Lorelei nodded.

"Er… where are the others? Aren't there supposed to be four of you?"

She smiled. "They're not here. They don't want to watch you battle. If they watch you battle, they will get a sense for your fighting style, and that will give them an edge. So, you've never seen them battle, and they've never seen you battle. And you'll be batting only one of us a day. That will give you and your team a chance to recuperate between battles. If you run out of Pokémon, you lose. If I run out, I lose and you move on to the next trainer."

I nodded.

"So, I hear that you're pretty tough. Don't disappoint me." As she spoke, a Pokéball somehow appeared in her hand. She paused for a moment, and then threw out her first Pokémon.

The Pokéball twirled into the center of the arena and burst open to reveal a Dewgong.

I grabbed a Pokéball from my belt and hurled it out, releasing Jarday, my Jolteon.

A shimmering appeared around Dewgong's horn and she released Aurora Beam. Jarday didn't even get a chance to dodge. The attack hit her, knocking her head over-heels.

Jarday quickly regained her balance and formed a ring of Double Teams around Dewgong.

Dewgong wasn't fooled for an instant. She turned directly to the real Jolteon among all the copies and released a jet of water. Again, Jarday tumbled backwards. Her Double Team vanished.

This wasn't working. I recalled Jarday and sent out Eon.

Lorelei stared at my Eevee in mild surprise. She didn't expect me to send out such a Pokémon in a battle of this magnitude. I only hoped I wasn't being too foolish to do so…

Dewgong glided forwards with Take Down.

Eon bounded to the side, and when Dewgong wheeled around to use Ice Beam, Eon countered with Mimic. His Ice Beam shot around Dewgong's attack and struck its mark. Dewgong reeled back and Eon charged forwards, using Sand Attack to blast dirt up into Dewgong's face. As Dewgong shook her head to clear her vision, Eevee dove underground with Dig. Eon shot up into the air again, slamming head-first into Dewgong's jaw.

Dewgong wheeled around, catching Eon with her tail. Eon was hurled backwards and landed heavily on the ground. He staggered dizzily to his feet only to be knocked out by Aurora Beam.

I returned Eon. He had done well. Dewgong was tired out. Now… time for my secret weapon.

Uber appeared next. Lorelei examined the black Pokémon with interest, not knowing what to expect.

Uber charged forwards, using Bite. It was enough. Dewgong collapsed in defeat.

Lorelei sent out Slowbro next. I smiled. She didn't know that Uber was good against psychic types.

Lorelei ordered Slowbro to use Psychic, but Uber simply shook off the attack - it had done no damage to him. Uber dashed forwards with a special attack that we'd discovered: Faint Attack.

Slowbro saw his opponent coming and prepared a punch. But the moment Slowbro unleashed the attack, Uber disappeared and reappeared on the opposite side of Slowbro. And Uber hit.

Slowbro was dazed by the blow, but used Amnesia to boost defense. Then he used Water Gun. The attack hit Uber, but had almost no effect on him. Uber used Bite again, and then jumped up over Slowbro to blast Shadow Ball down on his opponent.

Slowbro was finally down. Lorelei sent out Jynx.

Uber charged forwards with Faint Attack again. Lorelei recognized the move and ordered Jynx to prepare for an attack from behind. But Uber tweaked the attack in mid-strike and appeared to Jynx's side, landing a blow on his opponent.

Jynx began to blow, sending out a frigid blizzard. The icy wind filled the arena, sending out flurries of frost that made me shiver.

Uber hunched his shoulders and laid his ears back, bracing himself against the attack, but it was a powerful move and his strength was slowly seeping away.

_Attack! Before the Blizzard hurts you too much! _

Uber sprang against the freezing winds to attack again, but Jynx whirled around with Ice Punch and Uber was frozen solid, unable to move.

I sent out Flarga next. He immediately sent out Flamethrower, which hit Jynx but wasn't enough to faint her. Jynx swept forwards towards Flarga and reached out towards him.

_Get away! Move! _

Flarga jumped up directly into Jynx's face and blasted Ember directly at her. This time, Jynx fell backwards and fainted.

Lapras was Lorelei's next Pokémon.

Flarga jumped desperately to avoid a Water Gun, but the attack hit.

Flarga shook himself off and used Smog. At the same instant, Lapras used Mist.

The vapors filled the air around the stadium. Flarga backed desperately towards the wall, trying to get his bearings. But a Hydro Pump shot from the thick fog and struck Flarga, tossing him backwards where he landed in a drenched heap.

I returned him and sent out Vaardesh. He dove straight into the mist before it had a chance to clear. He headed for the hole that Eon had dug near the beginning of the match.

When the mist and smog cleared, I noticed that something was wrong. Vaardesh had managed to dive into the hole, but Lapras must have seen what was happening. Lapras had flled up the holes with ice. Vaardesh was trapped!

Vaporeon aimed his Ice Beam up and there was an explosion of dirt and shards of ice as the attack blasted through the ground. Vaardesh dragged himself out of the hole, and whirled to face Lapras.

At that moment, Lapras slid forwards towards my Vaporeon and opened her mouth to blast Vaardesh with Ice Beam at point-blank range.

Vaardesh fell.

Jarday was out next. She was tired from the first battle against Dewgong, but could hang on a little longer. Besides, she was fast.

She shot straight up to Lapras and used Pin Missile directly at Lapras's chest. It was followed an instant later by Thunder, and Lapras went down.

Lorelei sent out her last Pokémon-Cloyster. I was secretly grateful that the Elite Four would only be using five Pokémon each. Otherwise I wouldn't have much of a chance of winning anything.

Cloyster sent out a barrag of Spike Cannons. Jarday dodged and bounded out of the way of each one until she slipped on a remaining patch of ice. Then the attack hit her and she too was down.

Now I had only Polaris left.

I took a deep breath and sent her out.

Cloyster once again sent out a volley of Spike Cannons.

Polaris wasn't tired yet, as Jarday had been. She pranced and bounded from side to side, missing each spike by the smallest possible margin. As she did so, she slowly eased towards Cloyster. And as Cloyster paused to assess the situation, Polaris shot Ember into his shell.

Cloyster clamped shut and lay there on the stadium floor. Normally, that would make this Pokémon invulnerable to all attacks. But Ponyta had hooves that were stronger than diamond. She bounded behind Cloyster to get away from the side of the shell in case Cloyster burst open to attack. Polaris reared up and came down again, striking with her fore-hooves at the hard shell. There was a cracking sound and a split appeared in Cloyster's shell.

Polaris jumped backwards and Ben, Lorelei and I watched as Cloyster's shell flopped limply open.

For several moments, Lorelei and I stood there, breathing hard with the excitement of the match. Then Lorelei straightened up and gave a small smile. She returned Cloyster.

"Very good. I haven't had a battle like that in a long time. But don't forget, I'm only the first of four. The others that come after me are even tougher. Be here tomorrow at the same time. I suggest you rest up. You'll need it."

She tossed her red hair and strode out of the stadium, leaving me breathless in the arena.

"Wow!' Ben shouted, jumping down into the arena with me. "That was incredible! And check this out!" He held up a video camera. "I got the whole thing on tape!"

Polaris whickered in amusement as I stared blankly at the video camera.

"What? You… Hang on! What?"

Ben grinned. "You think I'd miss recording something like this? The camera's actually a gift from my parents. I just got it after the Pokémon League. I want to put it to good use! And now I can show your parents too!"

I shook my head in disbelief. "You're unbelievable."

"What about you! You're supposed to be excited! You defeated one of the Elite Four!"

"Ah, it hasn't sunk in yet."

Ben burst out laughing. "You're the unbelievable one. Come on. Let's get to the Pokémon Center."


	32. Hand to Hand Combat

Heart Gold is surprisingly not a very big part of the reason I haven't updated recently. I have been swamped with stupid school work. These past 3 weeks they have been trying to kill me. I was EXHAUSTED when I got home today and I can only say thank god that I'm finally on spring break. Now I can finally write and catch up. There's so many things I want to write! Waah! Need. More. Time. I hate being the slave of time.

And there seems to have been trouble with the story alert thing (this was ages ago). Someone said they never got the chapter alert, and I didn't even get the confirmation for my uploading a chapter till a day after. So anyway, hopefully it's fixed this time. And Lorelei is in the chapter before this in case you're lost.

Oh yeah. My forgetfulness. I was going to bring the Gym Leaders into the chapter before this but I completely forgot… maybe some day I will remedy that mistake but for now I'll just add them in for this chapter so as not to confuse the readers.

SO, getting on! Enjoy and review! ^-^ Prepare for the stunning climax of Eevee vs. Machamp.

?!?!

Polaris-Ponyta, Eon-Eevee, Uber-Umbreon, Jarday-Jolteon, Vaardesh-Vaporeon, Flarga-Flareon

Hand-to-Hand Combat

Just as Ben and I were about to leave the stadium to heal my Pokémon, nine people came out of the stadium and into the field. I hadn't even noticed them watching the battle.

It was the gym leaders from the seven gyms (not Giovanni, thankfully). The three sisters from Cerulean City were there, which is why there were nine of them.

I blinked and stared at all the gym leaders.

"Congratulations!" Erika called.

There was a chorus of agreement from the rest of them.

"I see you made it all the way here! Good job," Brock said.

"I hope my hint about who you were battling helped some," Blaine added.

"I totally never thought you'd make it this far!" exclaimed one of the Cerulean sisters (I think is was Daisy?).

"I know! Who would have thought," chimed in another of the sisters (honestly, I've lost track of them. It was a long time ago that I met them…)

"Great job, kid, to beat Lorelei," said Lientenant Surge.

Koga gave me an approving nod, which was duplicated by Sabrina.

"You're all here," I said stupidly.

"That's right."

"They called us and asked if we'd like to watch the battle," said Brock.

"Most of us were there to see the Pokémon League too," Erika noted.

"You'll need all your skill and luck tomorrow too," Koga said, flipping his hand absently.

"Make use of all your various talents," Sabrina suggested. I knew what she was referring to.

"Each battle will be harder than the last," Blaine agreed.

"We'll be here tomorrow too to cheer you on."

Ben and I had stayed at the Viridian City Pokémon Center so that we were closer to the competition. It would be annoying to travel back and forth between here and home.

The next morning, we flew off to the Pokémon League again to face the next trainer.

Back in the stadium, Lorelei was standing off to the side along with a burly man that I recognized to be Bruno. The Gym leaders were up in the stands. Bruno steped forwards to greet me and Lorelei headed up to join the gym leaders as a spectator. Ben followed.

Bruno gave me a bow, which I returned awkwardly.

"You did well to defeat Lorelei. You've proven that you can melt the frigid ice. Now we'll see what you can do against pure physical strength. Are you ready to begin?"

I nodded.

"Then don't disappoint me. I expect a great battle out of you."

He strode across the arena and I hurried to my half of the battlefield.

Bruno used fighting and rock types. So I should start out with…

I released Vaardesh as Bruno sent out Onix.

Vaardesh started out instantly by soaking Onix with Water Gun. Onix didn't even flinch and used Dig, sliding smoothly under the stadium floor.

_Listen, Vaardesh! Something that big will have to make noises underground! _

Vaardesh nodded and pricked his ears, listening intently. The moments ticked by. Why was Onix taking so long to surface? Was he trying to be quiet, or was he trying to throw us off guard?

Vaardesh ruffled his frill ever so slightly. He heard something.

_OK. Get ready. JUMP! NOW! _

Vaardesh sprang straight up in the air at the precise moment as Onix exploded upwards from the ground, directly below my Vaporeon.

Vaardesh landed feather light on the back of Onix's head. Onix glanced around, oblivious to Vaporeon's location.

Before Bruno had a chance to call out a warning, Vaardesh unleashed a torrent of water that drenched Onix in a fascinating Critical Hit.

Onix let out a bellow and crashed to the ground.

I was stunned. I'd knocked out one of his Pokémon with only one hit?

Bruno gave a small smile and returned his Onix. Next we faced a Hitmonlee.

Hitmonlee sprang forwards and swung his leg around, knocking Vaardesh backwards. Hitmonlee then dove down into the hole that Onix had left.

_Do what Lorelei did! Block the holes with ice! _

Vaardesh quickly used Aurora beam to seal up Hitmonlee's escape routes.

For a moment nothing happened.

Then there was a shattering sound and one of the blocks of ice smashed into tiny pieces, raining shards down around Vaardesh. He flinched back and shielded his eyes, and at that moment, Hitmonlee came leaping out of the hole. He had just kicked the ice out of the way. As Vaardesh was flinching from the rain of ice needles, Hitmonlee came sailing in with a High Jump Kick. Vaardesh went crashing backwards. Vaporeon desperately opened his mouth to shoot out Ice Beam, but he was shooting blind. Only one of the attacks hit, but it did little damage. Hitmonlee came in again using a round kick, battering Vaardesh senseless.

I returned my Vaporeon and sent out Flarga. The sturdy fire type easily took one of Hitmonlee's kicks. He hopped backwards, taunting Hitmonlee onwards. Hitmonlee charged forwards and slipped on a patch of ice left from Vaardesh's Ice Beam attacks. Hitmonlee was off balance for only half a moment, but that was all Flarga needed. He sent out Flamethrower, and as Hitmonlee lurched backwards, Flareon used Smog.

Hitmonlee winced and dropped to his knees to avoid the dangerous gas. Flareon charged forwards with a final Flamethrower. Hitmonlee went down.

Things seemed to be going pretty evenly so far. If we could keep this up…

Bruno sent out another Onix.

Flarga stepped backwards as the huge Pokémon stared at him.

Onix rammed forwards. Flarga wasn't fast enough to dodge and was swept along by the tidal wave of rock. In desperation he sent out Smog again. The huge rock snake inhaled the vapor and groaned, skidding to a halt. Smog had poisoned her.

Flarga got shakily to his feet, battered from Onix's ramming.

_I think… we had luck with this during the Pokémon League. Manipulating, the stage I mean. There's still some ice left from Vaardesh't attacks. Can you melt it? Fast, before Onix comes around again! _

But Onix's tail lashed around, sweeping Flarga off the floor. He landed heavily and I had to call him back.

I sent out Uber next. I'd need my lucky Umbreon about now.

Onix's head hung low and her breath wheezed slightly. Poisoning was taking its toll.

Uber dodged in, using Faint Attack, one of our surprise attacks. Onix thrashed around in an attempt to hit Uber. Uber jumped up and landed on Onix's back. Onix's tail swung around, but Uber ducked out of the way and the boulders making up Onix's body crashed together, making a horrible grating sound.

Ubre ran along the length of Onix's back and used Confuse Ray at his opponent's face.

Onix blinked in a benign sort of way for a few moments. Then Bruno gave a command and Onix blinked to attention. She lunged wildly in some random direction. She couldn't focus because of confusion. But since Umbreon was still on Onix's back, he was thrown backwards as ONix slid forwards.

Uber latched onto a ledge on Onix's rocky back and hung on for dear life. I got an impression of some wild rodeo.

Onix crashed headfirst in the side of the arena. That seemed to wake her up and she realized that Uber was still on her back.

Onix twisted around like a pretzel and made for Uber.

Uber dodged desperately and jumped up to another part of the rock snake's coils. Onix began to constrict around Uber. Umbreon made a frantic jump only to be struck down by Onix's tail. He tried to struggle to his feet but Onix used Rock Throw and the stones cascaded over Uber, knocking him out.

As I returned Uber, I noticed Onix give a shudder. She raised her head and released a bellow. Then she toppled forwards with a resounding crash and lay still. The poison had finally knocked Onix out.

Bruno returned his Onix and we each sent out our next Pokémon. It was Jolteon versus Hitmonchan.

Let's see… Hitmonchan can use Ice punch, Thunder Punch, and Fire Punch. None of those are super effective against Jarday. Hopefeully…

Hitmonchan dashed forwards with a Comet Punch. But Jarday was fast. She slid smoothly away from the series of lightning-fast punches and swung around to use Pin Missile.

Hitmonchan whirled around to attack, but Jarday used Double Team.

Hitmonchan used Comet Punch to dash away all of the Jolteon copies. When Hitmonchan came to the real Jarday, the glove collided with Jolteon. For a moment everyone stared in bewilderment at the field. The spikes of Jarday's fur had sunk into Hitmonchan's glove. Hitmonchan stared at the Pokémon hanging from his glove as Jarday snarled and thrashed. She used Thundershock, but Hitmonchan used Mega Punch to send Jarday flying.

I returned her and sent out Polaris. Eon would be a very bad choice against a fighting type. Was there anything he would be able to do here against Bruno's team? Maybe I wouldn't need to use him if Polaris could finish this...

Polaris bounded out of the way of a Thunder Punch, but Hitmonchan's second attack collided and Polaris staggered under the blow. She wheeled around and used Flamethrower and Hitmonchan finally went down.

Machamp. Was this Bruno's last Pokémon? I'd lost track. No time to think now. Machamp was charging, ready to hit with all four fists. Polaris charged directly into the attack with Take Down and the two ended in a tangle of arms and hooves. Polaris kicked out desperately, but then Machamp lifted her off of the floor, upside down. As much as she kicked, she didn't get a hit. And she couldn't crank her head around to use fire attacks.

Machamp hurled her to the ground in Seismic Toss. She lay in a small crater, stunned from the blow. Would she be able to fight any more? She didn't look like she was able to stand up again…

I quickly returned her. I froze. I only had my Eevee left. I gulped and released Eon.

Bruno raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything.

Eevee bristled, all his fur sticking out. He bared his teeth. He was so un-menacing looking that it was almost comical. It _would _have been comical had the battle not been so… well… big.

Machamp was unimpressed by Eon's display. He swooped in and tossed Eon to the side like a pebble. Eon rolled across the stadium and came to a halt covered in dirt. He got to his feet and hissed.

Machamp bore down on him again. Eevee kicked out, flinging sand up into Machamp's face. Machamp ignored it completely and in an instant he was on the unprepared Eon. HE knocked Eevee backwards. Machamp placed his foot on Eon's small body and Eon couldn't budge. Finally Eevee twisted around and sank his teeth into Machamp's foot. Machamp automatically withdrew. Eon leapt forwards, scratching, biting, and throwing his tail into Machmp's face to blind him. Machamp swung out and Eon crashed to the ground.

Eon dragged himself to his feet, panting and trembling, but looking determined to go on despite the odds. I grit my teeth. My Eevee was no more than a toy for this Machamp. He was going to get hurt… I couldn't stand this any longer!

_Don't you quit! _Eon shouted. _Don't! We gotta go on! GO ON! _

Eon began to glow. He grew and his tail became thinner and split into a fork. When the light subsided, I was facing a lavender cat-like creature with tufted cheeks and a gem on his forehead.

"Es! Espeon!" Eon exclaimed. A rainbow-colored beam shot from the jewel on his head, catching Machamp completely off-guard. Machamp staggered and fell, powerless to the psychic attack.

It was over.

Eon gave a happy sigh and slowly sank to the ground, exhausted.

I jumped into the arena, almost falling over as I landed, and scooped Eon up in my arms. He blinked up at me.

_See? We won. We won. _

"Yeah. You did great, Eon. Wonderful! That was amazing!" I stroked his head as Bruno returned his Machamp.

"You got me there," said Bruno. He suddenly laughed. "Who would have thought! That little guy sure was tough. And he evolved just for you, too. Your Pokémon must care for you a lot. So, do you know what kind of Pokémon he is? I've never seen one like him. Or that black one, for that matter."

_I'm an Espeon. _

"Espeon," I repeated to Bruno. I was at a loss for words. I was so happy with my Eon. He'd done so well.

"Congratulations. It was no fluke that you got past Lorelei." Bruno had approached me as I was hugging Espeon. He held out his hand. I reached out with one arm, holding Eon cradeled on the other elbow, and shook Bruno's hand. I winced at his powerful grip.

"So, are you coming tomorrow? For your next battle? Do you feel ready?"

"Yeah." I didn't feel like I could talk.

"Good luck. I"ll see you tomorrow."

"Thanks."

As the others left the stadium for the day, Ben came down to me.

I released a sigh and sank to the ground, snuggling Eon.

Ben blinked at me sitting on the ground.

"Whatcha doing down there?"

I shook my head. "I feel… drained. But I'm happy too! So happy! My Pokémon are so great! And they do so well! And I don't think I should feel drained since they're the ones doing all the work."

"That's not true. They couldn't do as well without you. You you direct them, help them train, you're an extra pair of eyes in a battle. But most importantly, they wouldn't fight so hard if they weren't fighting for you."


	33. The Third Battle: Ghosts

Please tell me if you're getting bored with battles. Honestly, I want to get writing the next part of the story, but I have to finish this first!

From what my brain tells me now, I'm not sure what to do for the rest of the Elite Four Battles. Of course I thought that near the end of the Pokémon League too. What's happened before is that I come up with the ideas as I'm writing, so hopefully that will happen for the next few battles too. I really want to get on with the rest of things since I don't want to run dry on battles… But I hope you guys are enjoying the battle scenes at least!! I'll get them finished and we'll get on to the last piece of Cara's first story.

Polaris-Ponyta, Eon-Eevee, Uber-Umbreon, Jarday-Jolteon, Vaardesh-Vaporeon, Flarga-Flareon

The Third Battle: Ghosts

Once again, I found myself standing in the arena. The gym leaders, Lorelei, and Agatha were sitting in the stands with Ben. Ben, predictably, had his video camera out.

I was facing Agatha, an older woman who was quite imtimidating in her way.

"I hope you're prepared," Agatha started, "to face the sharp bite of my poison Pokémon. Nothing disables an opponent like the attacks my Pokémon have learned. And you'd better hope that your Pokémon can get the job done fast before the poison sets in and immobilizes them!"

I gulped. Poison types. I never liked it when my Pokémon got poisoned…

Agatha sent out a Gengar. I released Uber.

Gengar stared at the strange Pokémon before him. I smirked slightly. Dark types were good against ghost. Not that Agatha knew that.

Gengar used Hypnosis. A psychic attack. Uber laid his ears flat and braced himseld. Hypnosis bounced right off of him.

Uber launched forwards and used Faint Attack. Gengar floated backwards, shaking his head dizzily. Then he disappeared from the battlefield.

_Listen for him Uber. He's gotta be out there somewhere! _

Uber nodded and pricked up his ears. But a moment later, Gengar appeared directly beside Uber and used Lick. Uber jumped back and Gengar immediately used Confuse Ray.

Uber blinked in surprise and leapt blindly forwards.

I quickly took out his Pokéball. He was my secret weapon. I couldn't afford to lose him to confusion. I replaced him with Vaardesh.

Gengar again disappeared.

Vaardesh began shooting out blasts of Water Gun in every direction, trying to hit the invisible target. It wasn't working.

My mind sped as I tried to think of what the opponent might be doing. It would be trying to sneak closer to attack. But the closer he got, the more likely it would be that he would get him by Water Gun. So, where would he be?

"Aim up!" I shouted.

Vaardesh tilted his head up and blasted out the Water Attack. Gengar suddenly appeared as the attack hit. He shook his head, backing off a bit.

Vaardesh leapt forwards in a Quick Attack.

"No! Stop! Normal attacks won't work on a ghost type!"

Vaardesh tried to veer off course, but Gengar reached out and laid a curse on Vaardesh. Vaporeon cried out and his knees buckled as the curse ate away his energy.

He forced himself to his feet and turned to face Gengar.

Gengar made a face at Vaardesh, trying to taunt him. But Vaardesh hissed and sent out Ice Beam. The cold attack chilled Gengar's gaseous body, making him shiver. Vaardesh groaned as Curse continued to take effect, but he forced himself to continue. He sent out Hydro Pump. Gengar tried to dodge, but Vaardesh shifted the attack and Gengar was blasted back by the torrent of water.

The Hydro Pump washed over the field, and Vaardesh used Acid Armor, melting away into water. By the time Gengar regained his senses, Vaporeon was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly, Vaardesh erupted up out of the water with an Aurora Beam that put Gengar out of ation.

Vaardesh stood on wobbly legs as the Curse drained the last of his energy. And as Agatha returned her Gengar, Vaardesh collapsed too.

As Agatha sent out Golbat, I responded with my Jolteon.

Golbat swooped down to use Poison Sting. Jarday used Thundershock before Golbat could launch the attack. Golbat shifted to Wing Attack and knocked Jarday backwards. She regained her feet and jumped up, landing on Golbat's back and weighing her down. Jarday sunk her teeth into Golbat's wing, tearing the membrane.

Golbat fluttered wildly, trying to keep aloft. Jarday lost her balance and fell. Golbat quickly used Supersonic. Jarday squealed as the high-pitched attack hit her sensitive ears.

She wildly sent out Thunder. By a lucky chance, the attack hit and Golbat went down. But Jarday was still confused. She lunged at a non-existent foe, and crashed head first into the arena wall.

"Stop! I shouted. Don't move!"

Jarday froze and shut her eyes tight. She swayed slightly, but avoided damaging herself anymore.

Agatha sent out Haunter. Haunter immediately used Night Shade, and the attack knocked her out.

I sent out Flarga. To my horror, Flareon didn't even get a chance to move before Haunter used Hypnosis, and then Dream Eater.

Flarga was out before he could even attack.

I returned him. Uber was still OK. I sent him out again to deal with the ghost type.

Uber began charging forward to attack Haunter. Agatha didn't know what Umbreon was, nor what was strong against him. So, she did what she was relatively sure would get that pesky nuisance out of the way. She ordered her Haunter to use Explosion.

With a mighty bang, Uber and Haunter went up in a cloud of smoke.

Agatha smirked.

"What do you think? Want to make things interesting?"

I stared at her blankly.

She took out her last two Pokéballs and released Arbok and Gengar.

I gulped and sent out Eon and Polaris-my last two Pokémon. We were going to settle this with a double battle.

Gengar disappeared and Arbok used Poison Sting.

For a moment my mind went blank. I stared at the arena as Eon and Polaris dodged the attack.

Usually during battles, I'm constantly _thinking _suggestions to my Pokémon, and occasionally shouting things out. Though there was a wide range of actions that my team did on their own. They couldn't rely on me wholly.

But my mind just shut down. I felt like I was watching a movie of a battle or something. I felt separated from it. I don't know what came over me. But I stopped talking to my team.

Arbok used Poison Sting, but Polaris burnt the attack out of the air before it got a chance to hit.

Eon and Polaris turned to look at me, wondering why I had stopped.

Polaris snorted and galloped up to me. She skidded to a halt and blasted fire in my direction.

I jolted out of my weird lapse. I felt shocked. What had I done?

Gengar reappeared on the battlefield.

_Blast it, Eon! _I shouted.

Eon used Psychic to stall Gengar and Polaris used Flamethrower to deal damage.

Arbok slid forward and wrapped around Eon before Espeon could dodge.

Eon cried out and began to struggle against the coils.

_Use Psychic to protect yourself! _

At that moment, Polaris used Flamethrower again, engulfing both Arbok and Eon in fire. I hoped that Eon had been able to protect himself with Psychic…

Arbok released Eon and ried to duck out of the way. Eon came bounding out of theflames and used Psybeam. Arbok toppled over.

Eon and Polaris turned to face Gengar, but Gengar had vanished again.

_Get back-to-back! _

Eon bounded over and landed on Polaris's back. The two of them stared in opposite directions, trying to locate Gengar.

_Shoot out attacks! Try to hit Gengar! _I doubted that Agatha would try coming in from the top again. But…

_The bottom! From the bottom! _

Too late. Gengar appeared directly beneath Polaris and sent her fling with Night Shade. Polaris landed heavily, right on top of Eon. Eon screeched as the horse Pokémon's weight fell on him.

Polaris scrabbled wildly to regain her feet as Gengar closed again. Eon used the last of his strength to psychically life Polaris to her feet, but then Eon fainted from the strain.

Polaris planted her hooves and faced the charging Gengar. Gengar made a face at Polaris and disappeared once again. At that moment, Polaris had released Flamethrower. Before Gengar had a chance to slip away under invisibility, the fire attack struck and Gengar appeared and crashed to the ground.

I gasped and grasped the railing in front of me.

Agatha returned her Pokémon and I did the same with Eon, my hands trembling.

"Most impressive," Agatha said. "It's been a long time since I've lost to anyone. Anyone but the person you're going to face tomorrow, that is. You'd best be prepared."

I hardly heard what she was saying. I was frightened with myself. I'd blanked during the middle of a match. I'd never done that before. Even during the Pokémon league, or against Lorelei or Bruno. What was wrong with me? If it hadn't been for Polaris…

Polaris turned to me. _Don't blame yourself. You're stressed. You've never done anything like this before. It was a mistake. And I'm sure you'll be fine tomorrow. Besides, we're here to look after you. We won't let things go wrong. _

I gulped and nodded. _Only one left… _

But I knew that tomorrow, against the head of the Elite Four, my chances of winning were almost zero.


	34. The Dragon Master

OK! Quick note. The last battle of the Elite Four. But after this, there is still one more part to my fanfiction . That means that after the Elite Four there is one more plot before the end of this fanfiction.

Now, there is a reason the title of this is Path of the Chosen 1. That is because there is a 2 coming up. I'm planning on doing another Zelda fanfic after I finish this, but I've received a lot of great comments about this story! More than I'd ever hoped. Thanks again, everyone! So, out of curiosity, does anyone want me to do Cara's second fanfiction after I finish this one? I'd be doing both Pokémon and Zelda fanfics at the same time, so I'd be updating slower. But if you want me to, I'll try to work on both. Anyone interested?

The Dragon Master

I thought I'd been nervous the night before I faced Josh. But I knew that Josh and tomorrow's battle wouldn't even compare. If I won tomorrow… it would be by an accident. I wasn't strong enough to _really _defeat the leader of the Elite Four. I was pretty sure of that.

_What about us? _

I turned to look at Eon. All of my Eevees were curled up around me as I lay on the Pokémon Center bed.

_Do you think we're not strong enough? _

I shut my eyes and turned away.

_I don't know. I… don't' doubt your skill. I just know that tomorrow will be… really hard. _

_Really hard? _Vaardesh looked amused. _That might be an understatement. _

_Honestly, it doesn't matter if we lose. _

_Yeah! We've gotten so far! _

_I won't mind if we lose! _

_Me either! _

_Same! _

I gave a soft laugh. _Yeah. People think that losing is so bad. But for every winner… there's a loser, right? But I guess you shouldn't think of them as losers. That sounds bad. They're just… not winners. What's that quote? I didn't fail, I just found 100 ways _**not**_ to make a lightbulb, or something like that. _

_That's the spirit! _

I flet better. I really did.

And so when, the next morning, I was back in the stadium, I wasn't shaking so badly anymore.

Well, until I saw who I'd be fighting.

I gaped as I faced my final opponent. It was Lance! The one we'd met at Lavender Town! I never knew he was one of the Elite Four!

"You've come a long way," Lance said, greeting me in the center of the arena and shaking my hand. "A long way since that fight against Team Rocket in the Pokémon Tower.

I nodded, staring at him blankly. "You're in the Elite Four? You're the _head_ of the Elite Four?"

He laughed. "That's right. You didn't know, did you? We didn't get much chance to talk that night. But you were good with Pokémon then too. Though I am surprised to find you standing against me in battle. So, what do you think? Are you ready?"

"I sure hope so."

Lance smiled. "Very well then."

He turned and strode across the arena, and I hurried to do the same.

Lance. He had dragon Pokémon. Odds are, most of them would be able to fly. I didn't have any flying types on my team. And I had fire types, which aren't great against dragons. And most of his Pokémon would probably be a lot bigger than mine. Not that that was a bad thing. Bigger doesn't mean better.

And we released our Pokémon.

It was Dragonair against Flareon.

Dragonair began to use Agility. She swished around the arena in a graceful blur. She was so fast that it was impossible to pinpoint her location.

_Shoot fire around the stadium! If she's going so fast, she can't avoid all of it! _

Flarga began blasting puffs of fire all around the stadium. I couldn't even tell if they were hitting their target. Either Dragonair was blazing right through them, or she was moving so fast that she was creating a breeze that was blowing them away.

_Smog! _

As Flarga unleashed the poison gas, it too was blown away by Draginaais'r speed.

Then Draginar lashed down and Flareon went flying across the arena, landing upside-down.

Flarga scrambled to his feet and glanced around, trying in vain to get a lock on Dragonair.

"You'd better make a move!" Lance called.

I clenched my teeth. How could I? He was so fast!

"If you don't I will."

Again Dragonair swooped in again.

_Jump! And Hang on! _

Flarga bounded up and landed directly on Dragonair's head.

"Fire Spin!" I shouted.

Flarga opened his mouth and sent out a fiery tornado. The flames built up around the two of them, locking the two combatants in a blazing twister.

_Please work, _I thought to myself. I could see what Flarga was doing. There were faint glimmers of purple among the flames. He'd mixed poison Smog into the Fire Spin.

Suddenly, Dragonair blasted out Dragon Rage, and Fire Spin vanished in a wisp of smoke. Dragonair twisted her head around and flung Flarga to the ground. She looked almost completely unscathed by Fire Spin. Dragonair then used Waterfall, flooding Flarga out of the match.

I sent Vaardesh out next.

Dragonair swooped down and used Waterfall again.

_Acid Armor! Quick! _

Vaardesh dissolved into water, blending in with the Waterfall that crashed down on top of him.

Lance glanced around, tryig to locate Vaporeon. It didn't take him long to figure out what had happened.

"Dragon Rage on the ground!"

Dragonair dashed in and attacked the water coating the ground. Water sprayed up in all directions.

_Ride it! _

Vaardesh allowed the blast to carry his liquid form up into the air. Then he quickly became solid once more and blasted Hydro Pump down on top of Dragonair. He followed immediately with an Ice Beam, freezing all of the water around Draginaor and encasing the dragon in a block of ice. Dragonair crashed to the ground and was immobilized.

Lance sent out Gyarados.

I returned Vaporeon and sent out Jolteon.

Gyarados reared back, a Hyper Beam beginning to form in his jaws.

Jarday bounded out of the way as Gyarados's head lashed forwards. But Gyarados didn't uleash tah attack. He waited _until _Jarday had leapt before he blasted out the Hyper Beam. Jarday, in the mddle of jumping, couldn't get out of the way. So the tried to lessen the blow by shooting Thunder directly into the heart of the Hyper Beam.

Thunder slowed Hyper Beam down a little bit, but the attack still hit her hard. She crashed to the ground, but quickly got to her feet. Gyarados would need a moment to recover after the Hyper Beam. It would be the best time to attack.

Jolteon charged forwards and Gyarados opened his jaws wide. Jarday leapt straight up towards Gyarados's open mouth and unleashed Thunder directly at the exposed mouth. Gyarados roared and reeled back, giving Jarday another chance to attack. She used Pin Needle, immediately followed by Thunderbolt, and Gyarados toppled over.

Jarday stood victorious, but tired. Hyper Beam had taken its toll. I returned her to give her a chance to rest. When lance sent out Aerudactyl, I responded by letting out Eon.

Aerodactly began to charge Hyper Beam.

I decided not to take any chances this time.

_Run, Eon! Don't stop until you know where that Hyper Beam is going! _

He nodded and began to zig-zag around, shooting back and forth. And when Aerodactyl blasted out her attack, Eon slipped out of the way and jumped up to use Psybeam. As he neared Aerodactyl, suddenly the flying Pokémon opened his jaws again and sent out another Hyper Beam. For one moment, Eon and I stared in disbelief. But she had just used Hyper Beam! She needed to recharge again before using another attack!

Then the Hyper Beam struck, blasting Eon backwards and knocking him out insantly.

I sent out Jarday again. Aerodactly flipped around and came charging in for Take Down.

Jarday used used Thunderskock, but Aerodactyl slid out of the way and struck Joleton.

Jarday jumped up and landed on Aerodactyl's head, and then used Thunder. Aerodactyl snarled and rammed Jarday into the side of the arena. She wriggled free and used Thunder one last time. The moment she unleashed the attack. Aerodactyl sent out Hyper Beam. Before either could dodge, both attacks hit and Jolteon and Aerodactyl fell.

Without missing a beat, we each sent out our next Pokémon: Dragonair versus Vaporeon.

Dragonair used Twister. Vaardesh quickly huffed icy air into the twister, turning it into a frigid vortex and immediately making it a hazard to Dragonair. The flecks of ice whipped past, making Dragonair flinch. Vaardesh used Aurora Beam, making Dragonair cringe back and get sucked into the vortex.

Then with a shockwave that send Vaardesh reeling back. The icy twister vanished. Dragonair snapped forwards and used Thunderbolt. Vaardesh barely endured the hit and used Ice Beam. He dodged sideways and used Sand Attack to blind his opponent. Dragonair whipped around and Vaardesh ducked under his lashing tail, using Ice Beam again. Dragonair lashed out once again, catching Vaporeon this time. Vaardesh bit down hard in Dragonair's tail. Dragonair ignored it and slammed Vaardesh into the stadium floor. Vaardesh then unleashed Blizzard. And the attack finally took Dragonair down.

Vaporeon could go a little farther. And I still had Umbreon and Ponyta.

But then Lance sent out Dragonite. I flinched. Even with three Pokémon left, it might not be enough to take out Dragonite…

Dragonite suddenly blasted out Thunder Bolt and Vaardesh was down in an instant.

When I sent out Uber, Dragonite took to the sky. Uber sent out Confuse Ray, but missed.

Dragonite swooped down and snatched Umbreon off the ground, carrying him high into the sky. Uber bit and clawed, but couldn't break free of the hold. And then Dragonite flung him down with such force that Uber left a small crater where he landed. He'd gone down in one hit? And Umbreon with such good defense…

I then sent out Polaris. We were each down to our last. It was almost over.

Dragonite swooped in, but Polaris reared and lashed her hooves, making the dragon hesitate for a moment. Flamethrower shot out, but Dragonite dodged and used Hyper Beam. Polaris dodged too and then jumped straight up using Bounce. She came down, her hooves hitting Dragonite hard on the head. Dragonite flinched but grabbed Polaris and flung her to the ground.

Polaris tried to scramble to her feet, but Dragonite used Dragon Rage, blasting Ponyta backwards.

Gasping, she staggered upright and sent out Fire Spin. Dragonite used Twister. The two twisters met and the fire was drawn into the Twister. The attack raged uncontrollably and caught Dragonite, dragging her into the vortex. Polaris remained rooted to the ground, buffeted by the winds and singed by the swirling sparks.

Dragonite suddenly blasted out of the tornado, making the entire thing dissipate and the fire faded into the air. Dragonite crashed straight into Polaris and she crashed backwards.

Lance held up his hand and Dragonite landed.

Polaris lay on her side for a long time before slowly pushing herself to her feet. She stood trembling, her legs wobbling and her head lowered towards the ground, her breath coming in ragged gasps. She couldn't even take a step without collapsing again. But the time-out was giving her a chance to gather herself.

Dragonite was a bit battered, but still raring to go.

"What do you say?" Lance asked. "I don't think you can go on. Look at your Ponyta? Are you someone who never quits, or do you want to stop before your Pokémon gets hurt anymore?"

"I don't think Polaris would forgive me if I quit, after all she's done for me," I said slowly. "I don't want to hurt her, but I don't think quitters will ever win either!"

Lance smiled. "I see. Very well. Your move."

_Flamethrower! _

Polaris unleashed the furnace-hot attack, and then gathered the last of her strength to bound forwards. As Dragonite slid sideways to avoid Flamethrower, she didn't expect Ponyta to come crashing into her. The two collapsed and Polaris failed with her hooves, battering Dragonite. Dragonite lashed out, sending Polaris crashing to the ground. But then Dragonits staggered. She had been burned. And as Polaris finally sank to the ground in exhaustion, the burn melted away the last of Dragonite's strength. A moment later, Dragonite went down too. Both combatants were down.

Lance and I stared, hardly believing it.

But I had lost. Polaris had fallen before Dragonite.

Lance slowly smiled and returned his Dragonite. I returned the beaten Polaris. Lance and I met in the center of the arena.

Lance then laughed out loud. "Even though you went down first, it looks like you managed to beat me too. We beat each other, huh? That was an excellent battle. Your Pokémon pack a lot of power into their hits."

"Yeah. They are great." I took a deep breath, then smiled. It was hard to be disaapointed with the results, even though I hadn't officially won.

Lance placed his hand on my shoulder. "Great battle. So, what do you think you'll do next, now that you've challenged the Elite Four? If you like, you can stay and train with us. Though maybe you'll want to head to the orange islands too. You could take the Orange League challenge."

I thought for a moment. "The Orange Islands? Yeah, maybe. But… I would also like to train with you some time. If that's all right."

Lance laughed. "Of course. I'm open any time. Do you have one of those new Pokégears?"

I nodded and took the device out of my pocket. It was impossible _not_ to have all the latest gear with Ben around.

"Here. I'll register my number in it. I'll look forwards to battling you again. Looks like both of need to work a little harder."

I nodded. "Yeah. I will."

"I didn't expect a Ponyta to be so tough. She did amazingly well. Maybe some day well battle again. Your Ponyta against my Dragonite."

I grinned and nodded. "I think that would be great!"


	35. An Invitation

Heheh. This chapter's a bit shorter than usual.

So, seems like you guys all want a sequl soon, huh? OK then.

I forget if I said this already, but I've also started working on another Zelda fanfic (It's not on fanfic yet). So, once I finish this, I'll start putting up both the Zelda one and the new Pokemon one. I'm hoping that that won't be biting off more than I can chew. I've never done 2 big fanfics at a time. But I've started the Zelda one and I have a lot of the info down for the next Pokémon fanfic too. So, I'll probably upload slower, alternating which story I update every week. Anyway, we'll see how it works, huh? Anyway, we're not there yet. Cara still has one last thing to get through before she can take a break.

Polaris-Ponyta, Kinesis-Alakazam, Skeppy-Scyther, Charren-Charizard, Uber-Umbreon, Eon-Espeon.

An Invitation.

Let's see… It's been about five months since the Pokémon League. Since then, well, Ben and I have been taking few of a few last things. For me, I wanted to catch the last Pokémon missing from my Pokédex. Mainly the exotic-ish ones like Likitung, Jynx, Hitmonchan, ex.

During some of that time, Ben was busy doing what he did best: messing with mechanical stuff. Can you say Game Corner?

So, I thought he was crazy when I left him in Celadon's Game Corner. And I couldn't forget the first time we were there… when the game corner had blown up and we found Team Rocket's base hidden beneath it…

Of course now it's all good to go.

So, like I said, on this day, I abandoned Ben in the game corner and went to search for a Mr. Mime. I was so close. So close to getting one Pokémon from each family. I still hadn't evolved all of my Pokémon. I didn't have Dragonite or Kabutops or anything. But thanks to Ben, we founf a guy in Pewter City with a machine. A machine thatcan revive fossils. That's how we got Aerodactyl, Kabotu, and Omanyte. I just needed two more.

It was much much later in the day when I returned to the Game Corner. I was tired, but pleased. It had been a few days of tracking before I reached this point. I'd finally managed to locate and capture a Mr. Mime.

I was ready to gloat to Ben. Except for the legendaries, I only needed on more Pokémon.

I entered the noisy arcade and squinted around to try to find Ben. He wasn't at any of the slot machines. Where was he? Had he left already?

My eyes scanned the edges of the room. There was a couch there. And on it, there was a person. Ben. I walked up to him to find him practically passed out. He'd fallen asleep on a couch in the middle of the Game Corner?

I stared down at him. Ben was so weird sometimes.

For a moment I toyed with the idea of waking him up in some mean way, like having one of my Pokémon use Water Gun at him. I smiled and shook my head. I would think those things, but I would never do them for real. I wasn't that mean.

"Oy. You're gonna want to wake up."

Ben didn't even move. I touched his shoulder and he blearily opened his eyes and blinked up at me.

He quikly sat up.

"Oh! You're back! I thought I'd wait here for you here, and I guess I fell asleep."

I smirked. "I noticed. How on earth can you fall asleep in a place like this?"

Ben yawned widely. "I was tired."

"Did you not get enough sleep last night?"

"It's not that. It just took a really long time to get this." He grabbed a paper bag from beside him and handed it to me.

"This is a thank you. For all you did on the journey, helping me train and all. And also a late congratulations on the Pokémon League and almost beating Lance. I would have given it to you sooner, but it took me a long time to win enough coins."

I peered curiously into the bag. There was a Pokéball in it.

Interested, I pulled it out.

"Let's go outside before you open it," Ben said.

I nodded and the two of us left the arcade.

"OK. Let's see what's in here." I tossed out the Pokéball and waited with interest to see what would appear. As the Pokémon became visible, I stared at it in disbelief. It was the last Pokémon I needed to complete my "collection."

"Ben, it's a Porygon," I gasped.

Ben nodded, smiling.

Porygon floated around, pecking at a branch and watching Pidgey fly overhead.

"Where did you get it? I never knew where to find one."

"I told you. I won it at the Game Corner."

"This guy was a prize at the Game Corner?"

Ben nodded.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted to surprise you. Beseides, you're really bad at those kind of games."

I stuck my tongue out at him. Porgygon drifted up to me and I patted him.

"Thanks, Ben."

It was time. Time to start heading to the Orange Islands. Lance had suggested that we do so. Now we were ready. We started heading towards the Vermillion Harbor.

It was a beautiful day as Ben and I rode down the trail, me on Polaris and Ben on his Tauros. To one side of us was the ocean. Sunlight glinted off of the rolling waves and an occasional Tentacool peered out of the water.

Ben and I stopped on the beach to eat lunch. Polaris and Tauros stayed up near the trail, grazing. Both of them turned their heads up at the sound of wing beats.

A Pidgeotto descended from the sky and landed on the beach directly in front of Ben and I. We examined the Pidgeotto with interest and it stared right back at us. Then he held out his leg and I saw that he was holding a rolled-up piece of paper in his claws.

"For us?" I asked.

Pidgeotto nodded.

Ben and I exchanged curious glances. I took the parchment from him and unrolled it.

"It _is _addressed to me!" I exclaimed. "Who would send me a letter by Pidgeotto?

"Read it!" Ben urged.

"I'm trying to. Give me a minute without interrupting me."

It was written on nice, thick paper that looked almost old-fashioned. The writing was in a neat, cursive hand, though easily legible.

Dear Ms. Cara Kellan,

You are receiving this letter because of your recent achievements in the area of Pokémon battles. You are one of many who has been invited to take part in a most unique contest. You along with several other chosen trainers will compete against each other, and the one who comes out on top will receive a valuable prize.

A ferry will be departing from Vermillion City Harbor two days from now at 9:00 AM and you will be brought to the site of the competition. If you are able to attend, please fill out the enclosed form and return it to me with the delivery Pidgeotto. If you don't think you can reach Vermillion in time, mark the box on the flyer and transportation will be provided for you.

I hope all of you try your hardest this coming saturday.

Sincerely,

Jed Anders.

I stared at the letter for a while before handing it to Ben. He scanned it with interest, but made a startled sound when he got to the end.

"Jed Anders! Cara, don't you know who Jed Anders is?"

"Uh… the name sounds kind of familiar…"

"He's that guy!"

"Thank you for being so specific."

"I mean that really famous guy that's supposed to love watching Pokémon battles!"

"Oh, yeah. That's right. He's one of those guys that likes to donate his money to good causes and stuff. There's a word for it. A paulist, or something."

"A what?"

"You know, the word that describes those rich guys that like to help people."

"Oh, you mean a philanthropist."

"Oh, that's what it's called."

"How did you get "paulist" from that?"

"I knew it sounded like a guys name that began in P."

"The "phil" isn't a guy's name. It's latin for…"

"I get the point," I sighed. "How do we know it's not a trap?"

"Why would you think it's a trap?" Ben asked blankly.

"He could be part of Team Rocket."

"I doubt that."

"Well, who would have thought that a gym leader would be the leader of Team Rocket? And maybe it's not even Jed Anders. Maybe it's someone pretending to be him."

"Why are you being so paranoid? Usually it's me who's like that."

"Because Giovanni's still out there. After… what we went through, I have a right to be a bit nervous about these sorts of things."

Ben sighed. "Well, you're right about that. Does this mean you don't want to go?"

I slowly tured to Ben and grinned.

"Of course not! If it's a trap, we'll kick their butts! And if not, we'll have a good time playing this game thing that's going on. I wonder what the prize is."

Ben shook his head, but couldn't help smiling. "Of course."

I quickly filled out the enclosed form and returned it to Pidgeotto. I tucked the invitation into my pack as the bird Pokémon flapped off.

So, we rode the rest of the way to Vermillion and I prepared a team.

Polaris, of course. I also have Skeppy-my Scyther from the Safari Zone, Kinesis (Alakazam), Charren, Eon, and Uber.

Ben had his Blastoise, Pidgeot, Arcanine, Tauros, Gengar, and Nidoking.

"I wonder if Amber and Josh got invited too," I said thoughtfully. "I mean, they got second and third place at the League."

Ben shrugged. "Do you think I'll be able to come along with you?" Ben asked.

I froze and loked at him. "That's a good question. I don't know. I hope so. If not… I guess you can wait for me here."

Ben nodded. "Either way, we'll find out soon enough."


	36. The Dragonair

As I was writing this chapter, I realized that it's an awful lot like the first Pokémon movie. What with the letter and a ship leaving for an island. Sorry about that. It wasn't intentional.

_The Dragonair_

Ben and I headed down to the docks on the appointed day. There was a beautiful ship moored at one of the docks. She had a design of a Dragonair painted along her hull. Bubbles and whirls of water were swirled around the painted Dragonair. It wasn't really huge like a yacht, but it was plenty large to fit a few dozen people. The fitting title _The Dragonair _was written in ornate writing on the ship's hull.

"I guess that's the boat we're waiting for?" Ben asked.

"I suppose."

We were a bit early, but soon enough, the dock was filling with Pokémon trainers. By 9:00, there were about 30 of us. But I didn't see anyone I recognized. No Amber or Josh.

As the clock tower struck nine, a man cane into view on the dock of the boat. Everyone turned to look at him. It was Jed Anders.

He stepped on the ramp connecting the boat to the dock and strode down towards us, stopping at the head of the ramp.

"Good morning," he said, raising a hand in greeting. "My name is Jed Anders. I'm very pleased that so many of you got my message and decided to join in on the competition. Since it's now 9:00, hopefully all are present who want to take part. If anyone's late, they'll have a few minutes more to arrive. In the meantime, welcome to my ship, _The Dragonair._ So, come on up and we'll set off! Show your invitations to the man up at the top of the ramp."

He stepped to the side, freeing up the ramp. The people nearest the ship began to board, murmuring excitedly.

Ben and I waited behind as everyone else climbed the ramp. Jed was still on the dock and we wanted to ask him a question.

Once most of the contestants were on board, Ben and I approached Jed Anders.

He turned with a smile.

"Yes? What can I do for you?"

"Oh, my name's Cara," I said uncertainly.

"Oh, you're the new winner of the Pokémon League, am I right?"

I nodded. "Yeah. But this is my friend Ben. He didn't get an invite, but I was wondering if he can come anyway."

"Sure," said Jed, laughing. "You're welcome to come along, though I'm afraid you can't take part in the competition."

Ben shrugged. "I don't mind. I wouldn't win anyway."

"Are you a Pokémon trainer too?" Jed asked with interest.

Ben nodded. "I guess."

"Oh, I said as an afterthought, "did you invite anyone names Josh or Amber?"

Jed paused and thought for a minute. "I don't recognize the name Amber, but I remember a Josh."

"He got second place in the Pokémon League," Ben said helpfully.

"Oh, yes! I did invite him. I believe he said he was unable to attend."

"Oh. What about Amber? She got third place," I added.

"Hmm. I didn't think to invite her. Is she a friend of yours?"

I nodded.

"Oh, well, I apologize. I'm sure she would have done well, but we arrived at our limit of passengers. However, I think your friend…"

"Ben."

"Yes, Ben, I'm sure you won't make our ship sink." He smiled at the jest.

Ben gave a small smile in return. "I hope not, sir."

"Of course. Ah, I believe we are the last ones left."

Indeed, the dock was deserted. Ben and I stepped onto the ramp and Jed followed us.

Jed's actions were very formal and polite. He definitely acted as though eh was well brought-up, though he didn't dress _too_ extravagantly. And he didn't act stuck-up either.

I showed my invitation to the man on the dock, but when Ben failed to produce one, Jed stepped up and said the the sailor, "he may board."

The man nodded. With the last of us on board, he stepped into the cabin of the ship to get ready to set sail.

Jed stepped onto a small platform and all of the competitors eagerly clustered around to hear what he had to say. I scanned toe crowd. Most of the others were older than us. They all looked excited as Jed began to speak.

"So, I'm sure you're all wondering where we're headed to, what the contest includes, and, of course, what the prize is. So, let me start to explain. First of all, we're headed to an island that my family owns. It's rather far from the mainland, so all of you will be provided with meals and a place to sleep for as long as you're taking part in the contest. This island, Avalon by name, is going to be the grounds for a very large scavenger hunt. Simply put, the first person to find the object of the hunt and bring it back wins.

"Avalon is full of wild Pokémon which are very strong. Your object is to bring back the Pokémon that is known as 'The King of the Island.' Though I want to impress this upon you now. The King of the Island, though I want you to bring it to me, I don't want you to keep it, nor do I want to keep it myself. It will be allowed to return to the island. Except for one building, Avalon's ecology is untouched. I would prefer to keep it that way. So, during your search, don't damage any habitats or harm any wild Pokémon.

"And regarding other competitors, none of you may attack each other. If you have a disagreement, you can battle each other to decide who moves on and who turns back. And no working in pairs. Everyone is on their own this time. Any questions?"

This was obviously a baited question. He'd left several important points out.

"What's the prize!" someone shouted.

Jed smiled. "That is only for the victor to know."

There was a murmur from the audience.

Someone raised her hand. Jed nodded to her.

"What sort of Pokémon is the King?"

"Part of the competition is to figure that out on your own. But I will tell you this. When you find The King of the Island, you will know. It won't be something obscure such as an Oddish or Goldeen."

"Do we have to catch it in a Pokéball?" I asked. "Or can we bring it back in a different way?"

"That is up to you," Jed said, "but remember that you're not allowed to keep the King."

He glanced around and when no one else spoke up, he concluded, "very well then. You're free to explore the ship. We won't arrive at Avalon for a few more hours. Not until after lunchtime, so we'll ring the bell when lunch is served. Thank you all. I hope you all put on a great show!"

"So, "I muttered to Ben as the others dispersed around the ship, "he's doing this because he wants to see tough Pokémon trainers in action. Will he have cameras following us around?"

"If he does," Ben said wistfully, "I want to take a look at them. His gear must be really high-tech."

I sighed and turned away. There he goes again.

I went to the railing along the edge of the ship (called a gunnel) and looked back at Vermillion City as it slowly sank away into the distance.

With good reason, I was a bit paranoid. It was a strange situation. But something told me that Jed was not a bad person. Mainly because he said he wanted to keep the King free. So he wasn't just trying to catch this powerful Pokémon for himself. I wondered, since he liked Pokémon trainers enough to finance this strange competition and offer some prize, did he have a Pokémon of his own?

The crowd was dispersing. Some people went indoors and others spread out across the deck. It was warm out, so no one was chased away by a frigid ocean breeze. But once the announcement was made that there were snacks below deck, most everyone swarmed inside. Ben and I waited up top for the feeding frenzy to dissipate.

"So," said a voice. Ben and I turned to see Jed standing behind us.

"You're the new winner of the Pokémon League?" He said, looking at me.

"Oh, that's right."

"How about you?" he said, turning to Ben.

"Oh, I was in the Pokémon League. But I lost in the second half. I like Pokémon, but honestly I think I'm better with electronics."

"Oh, a mechanic, huh?" Jed said with interest. "My cousin is a mechanic. He helped design the machinery of the Pokédex."

"Really?" Ben said with fascination. "That's amazing. The Pokédex sure it helpful for trainers. But…" he paused for a moment, then forged ahead, "Honestly, there are some features that it could have to make things easier on trainers."

"Indeed?" Jed replied. "I suppose as traveling trainers, you'd know what would be helpful on your journeys. I should introduce you to my cousin. You can tell him what you have in mind."

He paused for a moment. "Actually, I watched both of you compete in the Pokémon League. I make a point of going there most years. I haven't gone to _every _league, but I did go to this last one. If you don't mind my asking, Cara, how is it that you rarely speak during your battles?"

I tensed slightly. Not many people knew about my weak telepathy. Not that it was any big important secret, but… I guess it was my trump card.

"Oh…" I quickly flew through ideas of what to say.

"Have you practiced enough that your Pokémon figure out what to do on their own?" Jed asked, interested. "Or perhaps you give non-verbal cues. Such as dressage riders who ride Pokémon through patterns without visibly moving or giving instruction."

"I guess you could say that," I agreed slowly. I mean, I was giving cues without moving… "It's hard to explain," I finished lamely.

Jed shrugged "Fair enough. I've never actually taken part in a Pokémon battle, so I don't know much about them."

"You don't have a Pokémon?" I asked.

Jed shook his head. "No. I've been fascinated with them since I was young. I wanted to go on a Pokémon journey when I was old enough, but my family decided that I would fare better… under different circumstances. They thought it better to distance me from Pokémon. Not that that stopped me from reading about them and watching the Pokémon League on TV. So, now that I am fairly independent, I am happy to finally see these things first hand."

"Why don't you get a Pokémon now?" I persisted.

Jed sighed and turned away. "I… don't know what I would do with one."

I opened my mouth, but couldn't think of anything to say. So my mouth hung open for a while until Ben shot me a curious glance and I shut it again. "Anyway," Jed said, standing up again, "sorry for troubling you. Good luck to you, Cara."

"Thanks."

Jed turned and strode away.

I wondered if I'd upset him with talk about a childhood where he was refused the thing he loved.

My mind wandered back to my family. Mom and Dad loved Pokémon, with each of them owning a Pokémon of their own. They knew that I loved Pokémon too, and they never argued with me about going out to start my journey. But I wondered, how often did they worry about me? After living in that house for ten years, for me to suddenly leave on my own, only to visit occasionally?

And they'd be right to worry. They didn't know all the dangers Ben and I had been through - that we'd gotten tangled up in Team Rocket's affairs. It's not hard to believe that Jed's parents didn't want him going out on a Pokémon journey. A well brought-up child would have bigger plans resting on him.

"Let's get some food," Ben suggested. All he was thinking about was meeting the person who helped design the technology behind the Pokédex. He didn't notice my lapse into silence.

I nodded and followed him down below.

As we sat on the deck munching on the hors d'oeuvres (I still think that's a funny word) a girl approached us.

On the ship, I'd noticed that none of the competitors really knew each other. Ben and I were the exception. So some of the more outgoing people were introducing themselves to others. That's what this girl was doing.

"Hi!" she said, smiling. She was really tall and almost scrawny with reddish brown hair tied back in a way that it frayed out of the hair tie in all directions. She wore a pink shirt and jeans and looked to be a few years older than us. "I'm Nia."

Ben and I smiled back and introduced ourselves.

I was curious how Jed had picked the competitors, so I asked, "Did you take part in the Pokémon League?"

Nia shook her head. "No. Actually, I haven't started to take the gym challenge. I go around competing in smaller contests. I've gotten pretty good at tournaments, which is why I was invited, I guess. But I know about you. You won the Pokémon League!"

I turned a bit red and nodded. I was a bit uncomfortable with the fact that people I didn't know knew me. I mean… I guess it was understandable. But I was glad that my match against the Elite Four hadn't been public. That would have made things worse. Honestly, I don't want to be famous. Famous people get no privacy. But… I dunno. It would be interesting to have a voice and get people to hear what you have to say. To make a difference… Do you need to be famous to make a difference?

"Don't you think this is exciting?" Nia asked. "I mean, there's mystery involved! It's so much more interesting that normal events! And usually the prize is announced. But here it's a surprise!"

Ben nodded in agreement, and I mimicked him. Yes, it was a bit mysterious. And who says that mysterious can't be fun? I just worry too much nowadays.

A pale boy about Nia's age approached us. He was taller even than Nia with black hair cut short and brown eyes.

"Nii, you're here!" he exclaimed, smirking.

Nia snapped her head up and stared at him in disbelief. She obviously knew him. And he called her nii. Like knee?

"Kevin?" she exclaimed. "How on earth did you get here? I didn't notice you in the crowd… she trailed off and turned away, growing a bit red.

"I could also say that I'm surprised to see you here," Kevin said, giving a casual flip of his hand. "I got invited because of my exploits in the Orange League. You're looking at the new Orange League champion."

"Is that right," Nia replied hotly, suddenly standing up straighter and glaring at Kevin. "Well, Cara beat the Indigo League! Which is much more impressive than the Orange League."

I opened my mouth to protest. I didn't want to be made a spectacle of.

Kevin turned and gave me a very critical stare. I blinked back at him.

"You?" he said incredulously. "You're not even that old."

"Who says you have to be old to be good," Ben snapped suddenly. I rarely ever heard him get angry. It startled me.

"That's enough," I muttered. "It doesn't matter, Ben."

Kevin gave me one last glance, raising an eyebrow.

"Whatever. See you losers later. By the way, that prize? It's gonna be mine." He gave another flip of his hand, stuffed his fists into his pockets, and strolled away.

I glared after him. I'd managed to keep my cool up till then, but inside I was starting to bubble up. That jerk! Stupid, arrogant…

"Don't mind him," Nia sighed.

Ben and I turned to her in surprise.

"He's not really as bad as he pretends to be." She heaved a deep sigh. "We knew each other when we were kids. See, right now, his grandmother's in the hospital. She's… pretty bad. I think that he thinks the prize will be money. He'd want to use it to help treat his grandma. Really… he's not that bad."

Ben and I were silent. It took a while for the atmosphere to loosen up again. But then the rest of the voyage passed quickly. There was a game room on board the ship, which ended up becoming quite crowded.

We didn't run into Kevin again during the trip.

Then came that most exciting of announcements.

"Land ho!"

Everyone swarmed up on deck and peered out over the ocean to get their first glimpse of Avalon.


	37. The Game's Afoot

This chapter's a bit short, but there's only 2 left after it! I'll see if I can finish another this weekend, though I'm not sure cause I got a lot to do right now.

A quick question. Does anyone have any ideas as to how to track a Lugia (in the Orange Islands)? A Lugia hunt. If anyone wants to offer advice, I'd be interested to hear what you gotta say!

OK, I promise that in Cara's second fanfic, there will be a traitor person. Right now, you don't' have to worry about people seeming nice on the sirface while actually being evil. Like I said, I promise there will be one of those in the next fanfic. (I know Amber and Jed seem totally suspicious too, until you get to know them better, so sorry for leading you on). Heheh. It would be really funny if I went through all this and then ended up making Jed evil after all.

Some rich people are sobs ((Not all). A while ago, I had to watch as my friend's parents snobbified as their wealth increased. Then you get someone like C who's really nice in person, but completely unreliable if you ask him to do something at home, or if you email or call him. And then there's G and B who are strange no matter how you look at them. So it's nice when rich people aren't snobs, anyway.

Polaris-Ponyta, Skeppy- Scyther, Kinesis -Alakazam, Charren-Charizard, Eon-Espeon, Uber-Umbreon.

The Game's Afoot

Avalon was still some ways in the distance, seeming very small against the ocean. But as _The Dragonair _drew nearer, Avalon's size became apparent. It was big. By my rough estimate, at least 60 miles across, from this viewpoint. A towering mountain sat in the very center of the island, hinting perhaps at volcanic origins (though I found out that the volcano had long since been dormant). The top of the mountain was so high that it had a faint dusting of snow, even being so close to the ocean. There were a few other smaller islands clustered around it.

_The Dragonair's _engines pushed us along at an amazing speed. Before we knew it, we were in the shadow of the Avalon mountain. The passengers stared in awe up at the towering peak.

_The Dragonair _steered into the mouth of a river and began to sail against the current, following it into the heart of the island. The engines of the ship made progress pretty fast, considering the vessel's size.

A beautiful, deep forest reached both banks of the river. I leaned on the railing, watching Mankey and Pidgey play in the trees. Then I froze and stared into the trees. There were Pokémon there that I'd never seen before. Never heard of. At first there wer just a few of them, but as we moved further, I realized that I didn't recognize most of them.

There were large ladybug-like insects flying around, and green spiders that hung from branches on fine cobweb strands. A herd of deer was drinking from the river, and they raised their heads to watch us pass. Strange blue water-skipers fitted over the water's surface, drawing very close to the boat. Birds with cottony wings floated past, and what looked like a cluster of cherries was snuggled among the branches of a tree. A gray and red foxish creature glanced at the boat and dove away into the bushes.

"Ben, "I whispered, completely blown away, "Look at them all! I've never seen Pokémon like these before! What are they?"

"You could get your camera out," Ben suggested. He, of course, had had his camera out since Avalon had come into view. I wasn't sure how many pictures he'd taken yet, though.

I quickly reached into my bag and started snapping pictures with my camera.

Nia reappeared after having gone to get some snacks.

"You seem excited," she noted, seeing Ben and I practically hanging over the boat railing to stare at the passing scenery.

"Look at all the new Pokémon!" I exclaimed.

"I've seen some of them," Nia said, setting her drink down on a bench. "See that round blue one? That's Marill. They have some of those in the Orange Islands. But your'e right. A lot of these I've never seen before. They don't live in Kanto."

I wanted to get out there and look at them! Who would have thought that there were so many undiscovered Pokémon!

The boat emerged into a small, still lake. There was a wooden dock across from the river, and not far from the lake there was a house. It was three stories high, and covered a good surface area, though it was hard to tell from the boat. It was painted white and had dark metal railings on the porches. It was built after an old style of architecture, though I'm not sure the name of the era. Victorian, maybe? I think it might have been a blend of architectures. Some vines were trained up lattices along of the walls. There were a lot of windows, and for good reason. To one side, the house looked over a lake, and the other side looked out over a wide, green field with the forest off in the distance.

There was an arena to one side of the field. An arena for Pokémon battles.

As _The Dragonair_ docked, all of the competitors swarmed off of the ship and followed Jed to the building.

"So," Jed called as we hiked the short distance to the house, "if any of you need food to bring during the competition, there's plenty that you can borrow in the house. And there's a healing machine for your party. It's quite possible that this competition will last more than one day, so be prepared to camp out, or find some way to get yourself back here to use one of the guest rooms. There's still several hours of daylight left, so I think it will be fine to start the competition once we go over everything once more. Also, Each of you will have a camera following you. This is for your own safety as much as to keep a record. If any of you fall into danger, someone will be by to help you out. Let's see… what else am I forgetting…"

We'd arrived at the front door of the house, and Jed stopped outside

"Oh, yes," he continued, "No one may bring more than one empty Pokéball. I don't want you catching the wild Pokémon here. But you can keep one empty one in case that's how you want to bring the "King of the Island" back here. So, we'll have about one more hour for final preparations, and then the contest will officially begin. If you want to do a warm up battle, you can use the stadium over there."

As Jed opened the front doors of the house, the crowd dispersed. Some stayed to get supplies from inside, others went off to check out the arena.

Nia turned to look at Kevin, who was striding away towards the arena. She gave a small sigh.

Ben, Nia and I ended up going out to the stadium too. We sat on the bleachers and watched some of the practice battles. Kevin was battling another boy – Golem against Victreebell. I think the Victreebell belonged to Kevin.

"Do you think Jed's his real name?" Ben asked.

"Hm?" said Nia and I in unison.

"Oh, I mean, it sounds like it's short for something," Ben replied, shrugging.

"It is."

Jed himself was walking up to sit on the bleachers and watch the battles. He'd heard us. "But… it's a really long, awful name. Jed is better than the title I inherited."

"What's it short for?" Nia asked.

Jed grimaced. "You probably don't want to know, but it's Sir Jeddereth of Kasteins."

"That _is _a long name,"I admitted, raising my eyebrows.

"Short names are nice," Nia agreed.

Jed nodded. "That's why I go by Jed."

He sat down on the bleachers with us and watched some of the practice battles going on below.

"Are you going to warm up before the contest?" Jed asked me.

"Oh… I dunno…"

"I'll challenge you!" Nia exclaimed.

"OK."

Nia and I hopped down intot he arena and each pulled out a Pokéball. I sent out Skeppy. Nia sent out Starmie.

By the time the battle was over, the hour was almost up. Nia and I dashed back to the house to heal our Pokémon. By then, everyone else had gathered outside.

Jed stood in front of the group, ready to officially start the competition.

I glanced back to see Ben standing to the side. He'd have to wait behind. He raised his hand and I waved back.

A faint whirring sound made everyone look up. A flock of strange... things floated out of one of the windows of the house. It took a minute forus to realize that they were machines. Black and red machines with little propellers that kept them aloft. They were the cameras. Flying cameras.

Ben was examining the devices, wide-eyes. Something told me that he wouldn't be a bit bored as he waited for us to get back.

"OK. Everyone clear on the rules?" Jed called, drawing everyone's attention back to him.

There was a general murmur of assent. Everyone shifted slightly to prepare for the signal.

Jed nodded. He held up his hand. "OK. On your mark, get set," he brought his hand sweeping diwn, " GO!"


	38. Unknown Beings

OK, The prize doesn't arrive until the next chapter, but I want to mention it here. The prize kinda random, I know, but Avalon will become important, so I needed it to show up in future stories. You'll see when you get there!

Polaris-Ponyta, Skeppy- Scyther, Kinesis -Alakazam, Charren-Charizard, Eon-Espeon, Uber-Umbreon.

Unknown Beings

Most of the trainers sprinted off several strides before stopping and pulling out their Pokéballs. Red flashes lit the air as trainers released their Pokémon. Almost everyone had large flying types such as Charizard, Fearow, and Pidgeot. The Pokémon carried their trainers out of sight over the trees. Others jumped onto the backs of Rapidash and Dodrio and sped off across the field. Nia was on a Fearow, and Kevin had a Charizard. Nia took off, not sparing me a second glance. Kevin did the same.

I released Charren and jumped onto her back. She took off into the air towards the large mountain, keeping clear of the other trainers. Many of them were making for the general direction of the mountain too, but Avalon was big enough that this didn't crowd us a bit.

I grinned to myself. I had an advantage over the others. I could ask wild Pokémon if they knew who the King of the Island was. Hmm. Where should I start?

After several minutes of flying, I glanced around to make sure no other trainers were around, except my flying camera. When I was sure the coast was clear, Charren angled down to another large meadow that was up against a series of cliffs at the base of the mountain. This area was more rugged than the other, more gradual slopes of the mountain, but I'd caught sight of a hole near the bottom of the cliff.

Charren tucked her body up and landed within feet of the little cave. She peered into the dark opening. Her tail would be useful illumination, but she was too big to fit in the narrow opening. So I released Eon. He stepped into the cave first, the jewel on his forehead glowing. Charren waited outside as I stepped in after Eon.

It was a bit anti-climactic. I was expecting an impressive, gaping chamber, though I should have known better, I suppose. As it was, the cave was pretty large. About the size of a medium-sized house.

There were odd little nooks sunk into all surfaces of the walls.

Eon laid his ears flat and crouched low to the ground, baring his teeth. Something had him spooked. I glanced around, but couldn't see anything.

"What is it, bud?"

Suddenly, a flock of black shapes appeared from each of the nooks and swarmed around us, creating a black orb around Eon and I.

Eon snarled and took a swat at them, but I held out my hand to stop him. I didn't want to attack this flock of… things. I didn't want to agitate them.

I tried to get a good look at them, but they were swarming so fast that it was hard to tell what was going on. They all looked pretty similar-black limbs and a large eye in the center of each.

"Please, calm down," I said trying to keep my voice steady. I held my hands out in front of me. I was shaking a bit because I wasn't sure if these strange Pokémon were preparing an attack, or just examining us. Though they'd had plenty of time to attack already, so…

_Please, I don't mean any harm, _I said through telepathy. Maybe that would get through to them better. _If I'm in your territory, I'm sorry. I didn't know. Do you want me to leave? Because you're blocking the exit. _

All of them gave a strange high-pitched squeaking, almost like laughter. The way they moved and made sound… they all acted in unison. They seemed connected, all one entity even though there were almost 30 of them.

Their swarming slowed down so that they were very slowly circling us. Now I could get a better look at them. There were, in fact, 28 of them. And as I looked, I noticed that each of them looked like a letter of the alphabet, in addition to an exclamation point and a question mark.

One of them flitted forwards and tapped me on the shoulder. I flinched, but stayed put. I didn't want to risk threatening them in any way. Who knew what these Pokémon were capable of?

_It's been a long time since we've seen a human, _The strange Pokémon said in unison. _Not since we came here from the mainland. _

_Oh?_ I replied uncertainly. _Um, what are you anyway? _

_We are the Unown. What are you called? _

_I'm Cara. _

_Welcome, Cara. What brings you here? _

_I'm looking for the King of the Island. _

_You are the first human we have met in a long time who could speak to us. Good luck on your search. If you ask around, I'm sure you'll have no trouble finding him. Searching high might serve you well. Farewell. _

The cloud of Unown around me broke apart and all of them disappeared back into their little nooks.

Eon remained crouched low to the ground, trembling. I was shaking a bit too. The Unown didn't seem like they meant any harm, but they had a strange sence of power emanating from them. Eon, being a psychic type, could sense it very strongly. I didn't think it would be wise to upset Unown.

I stepped rather quickly out of the cave and took a deep breath once I was back in the sunlight.

Evening was starting to turn to night. We should find a place to camp soon. I paused and looked around. _Should _I make camp, or should I continue the search? What if someone found the King first?

Well, there were still a few hours left before it all got dark.

I glanced up to where the flying camera was buzzing above me. It hadn't followed me into the cave. It probably wasn't that good at maneuvering. It couldn't risk going through the narrow tunnel, or it might crash.

Eon rubbed against my ankles. I reached down and patted him.

"I think we have time to get a little information," I sighed.

I hiked out into the field with Eon trotting besides me.

Several heads raised from the tall grass and turned to look at me. I gave a little squeal of delight. It was a herd of Ponyta. There were at least 50 of them, along with a few Rapidash.

At that moment, Polaris's Pokéball burst open on its own and she appeared. She pricked up her ears and looked at the herd of wild Ponyta.

The wild ones took a few steps in our direction. Polaris started walking towards them too. Eon and I followed.

As we neared the herd, one of the wild Ponyta came trotting up to us. He touched noses with Polaris in greeting, and they sniffed at each other. Then the boy Ponyta gave a little nicker and the rest of the crowd came forwards to inspect us.

They all greeted Polaris first, and then the boy came over and sniffed at me, his breath making my hair flutter.

_Hi, _I said, holding a hand out. He touched it with his nose.

_Hi. _He cocked his head. _What are you? I never seen a Pokémon like you._ Most of the Pokémon on Avalon had never seen humans, it seems. Jed and his fellows probably hadn't strayed far from the house.

I laughed. _I'm a human. My name's Cara. _

_I'm Nova! _

The rest of the herd gathered around and was listening with interest.

Quite suddenly, all of them parted, making way for a Rapidash to step forwards. The moment I saw her, I gasped. Her mane and tail were bright silver, and they shone in the dimming light.

The silver Rapidash examined Polaris, Eon and I.

_You are human, correct? _She asked.

I nodded. _Yeah. Have you seen one before?_

_A few of them come to the island, though most do not venture this far inland. But you're different from the others. You can understand us. Tell me, why are you here? There are many humans on the island right now. _

_We're looking for the King of the Island. _

_Ah. I see. Why? Do you intend to catch him? _

_Actually, I'd like to talk to him about that. _

_Hmm. _She turned to Polaris and the two of them exchanged a few brief whinnies.

The Rapidash turned back to me. _My name is Starlight. Polaris says that you are trustworthy, so I don't mind helping you. The King of the island lives in a cave about 2/3 of the way up the mountain. You would never be able to get there on foot. What's more, there are many caves in the mountain. It will be difficult to find the correct one. I suggest you find a guide who can show you the way. Our herd, being limited to the ground, have never been there. _

_Thank you. I'll try to do that. _

_Good Luck. _

Starlight and her herd turned and trotted away across the field. The boy Ponyta, Nova, turned and gave us a nod of farewell before following the others.

We waited for a minute, and then Eon and I jumped onto Polaris's back and headed off to find a guide.

"Shiny Pokémon!" I exclaimed. "That Rapidash was silver because she was a shiny Pokémon!" I'd heard about shinies, but I'd never actually seen one. I turned around to watch the Ponyta and Rapidash galloping across the field. Starlight's mane flashed in the distance.

"So," I said, turning forwards again, "Keep your eyes out for a Pokémon who…"

_There's one! _Polaris exclaimed.

Eon jumped off of my lap and bounded in the direction that Polaris had indicated.

Then I saw it too. For a minute, I thought it was a Pikachu. But as it sat up to look at Eon, I realized that it was definitely not a Pikachu. It had red ears and + signs on its cheeks.

"Don't chase it away, Eon!" I said. He stopped and Eon and the Pikachu-like thing eyed each other.

I quickly jumped off of Polaris's back.

_Hey, I have a question for you, _I said. I glanced up at the camera that was watching me. I should keep my conversation on silent for now.

_Yes? _Replied the yellow and red Pokémon.

_Uh, well, first of all, what kind of Pokémon are you?_ I scratched my head.

_I'm a Plusle! My name's Addie. _

_Ah, well, Addie, do you know how we can find the cave where the King of the Island lives? _

Addie cocked her head. _Cave? I heard of it. Never been there though. _

_Oh, so you can't help us? _

_I'll help! I'm sure we could find it! Can you fly? _

_Oh, I can't fly. But I know someone who can. _

I took one last glance at the sinking sun. It would be dark very soon.

I returned Polaris and Eon and sent out Charren. I hesitated, then released Skeppy too. Scyther could fly, and another set of wings would be helpful while trying to search for a cave. I wondered if I should send my Alakazam out as well. His psychic powers might be helpful in locating this King. Well, we'd see. If we had no luck, I'd let him out.

Scyther clashed his blades eagerly and Charren lowered her neck to let me climb onto her shoulders. Addie hopped up in front of me.

"OK, guys," I called, "we're looking for the cave where the King of The Island is. Apparently it's up on the face of the mountain, which means that the King can fly, or something. So, keep your eyes and ears open. Let's go."

Charren swept her wings and took off. Scyther followed, though he wasn't as fast as the fire dragon. Charren had to slow down so he could keep up.

We'd have to go quickly though. Soon the sun would be gone and there wouldn't be enough light to see by.

Charren circled to gain altitude. She clung close to the face of the mountain. From here, we could easily see all the Pokémon, both familiar and unknown. Parts of the mountain were sheer rocky cliffs, only scaled by the most athletic Pokémon. Other parts of the mountain were more level. It would be possible for a human to climb it on foot if they kept to these areas. Thick forests were able to grow over much of it, and flowered fields gave a bright green coating to other areas. But the main place I saw caves was in the cliffy areas.

Charren flew further and further up the mountain until we felt the chill from the snow and neared the tree line.

Just before the mountain got its white, icy coating, there was another series of cliffs.

"Let's go there," I called.

As Charren and Skeppy coasted in close to the mountain, I found that it was dotted full of caves.

Skeppy buzzed up close to several of them, peering inside. Charren hovered before some of the larger ones, but they were so dark inside that it was impossible to tell what was inside them.

Addie pricked her ears and peered over my shoulder, back behind us. I followed her glance, but didn't see anything. I had to turn forwards again before I fell off Charren's back.

"Any luck?" I called.

Charren shook her head.

_Ooh, it's there! _Addie called, pointing to a cave. There was a large crystal about three feet long jutting out of the cliff face directly beside the cave. _He's gonna be in there! _Addie exclaimed. _I heard about a crystal by his cave! _

I nodded. "Thanks, Addie."

Charren back-flapped and landed on the ledge in front of the cave. I slid off of her back and stood in the mouth of the cave. It was large enough for Charren to go through, but I didn't think she'd be comfortable in there. I returned her and Skeppy. Addie climbed up onto my shoulder. I glanced back at the camera that was still following us. It would have to wait outside too.

I gave an apologetic wave to the camera, and then turned and vanished into the blackness of the cave.


	39. The King of the Island

Ferngirl: This is it. The last chapter. I feel so accomplished!

Cara: Wait a minute! I never found out why Mew came to visit me all those times! Why'd she pick me?

Fern: Be patient! That's coming in the next story! You don't even have to wait that long. I promised I'd start uploading it once I finished this one. But I'll have to split the time between this story and my new Zelda fanfic.

Cara: You're going to work on two stories? You're never done two fanfics at the same time. Think you can handle it?

Fern: We'll find out. Besides, you should see how many OTHER stories I have on my computer that don't go on fanfic. I'm used to working on multiple things.

Cara: OK. Don't overwork yourself.

Fern: Summer break's coming up in just a couple weeks.

Cara: Which means you'll probably write even less than you do during school!

Fern: Oh, hush. I won't forget about you.

Cara: You'd better not! Cause you're supposed to mention what sort of things I wear (someone asked), and we're gonna meet your favorite legendary Pokémon in the next story!

The King of the Island

Meanwhile, back at the house, Jed was sitting in a room with Ben. Most of the wall was taken up by large computer screens that were displaying the images from the floating cameras. Ben was looking over the complex computer equipment with wide eyes. Jed was watching the pictures with fascination. Two trainers had encountered each other and were battling. One girl was riding up the slope of the mountain on a Dodrio. There was a boy sitting by a pond with his fishing rod. He'd been there for a while, occasionally catching a Goldeen or Magikarp and releasing it. Jed had no idea what he was searching for, but at that moment, the kid got a bite. He jumped to his feet and began reeling it in.

It was a Seaking.

The kid threw a Pokéball and caught it. Jed stared. That was the kid's only Pokéball. Why did he use it on a Seaking?

Ben watched as well as the kid turned and waved at his camera.

"Look!" he shouted, waving the Pokéball. "A SeaKING! It's a KING! I caught the KING of the island!"

Ben turned and blinked at Jed. "It can't be that, can it?"

Jed sighed and shook his head, "Not at all. Though that kid is pretty sharp to think of such a thing. I should give him a prize for ingenuity." In spite of himself, he started to laugh. "That's definitely one I've never heard before!"

Ben smiled and turned to look at Cara's screen. The camera was facing a cave with a large crystal spearing out of the cliff next to it, but Cara was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is she?" Ben asked, alarmed.

"She went into the cave," Jed sighed. "The camera's can't follow her in there. They're not maneuverable enough to go through such a narrow passage. We'll have to work on that… But either way, we'll have to wait until she comes out."

"Oh." Ben's eyes scanned the series of videos that were playing. Nia and her Fearow were on the opposite side of the mountain, coasting just above the treetops. Then Ben saw something else. There was another camera that was palying an image of a boy on a Charizard. Ben tried to remember which of the trainers besides Cara had a Charizard. The image showed the boy and his Pokémon flying up towards a cliff full of caves. One of the caves had a crystal next to it.

I didn't make it a few steps before I had to stop. It was too dark to see.

_Ooh, it's dark! _Said Addie_. _She began to spark, and her electricity lit up the tunnel.

"Oh, thanks, Addie. Now we can see where we're going."

The cave walls shimmered. When I examined them closer, I noticed that small crystals covered the walls. Some of the larger ones jutted out. I had to be careful not to crack my head on the low-hanging ones.

The path continued on beyond the range of Addie's flash. It didn't go in a straight line, but curved up and down and to either side. We proceeded with caution, trying to avoid the sharp points of the crystals.

It didn't take long before the tunnel opened up into a vast cavern. Crystals shimmered on the walls and ceilings. Not far from the tunnel's mouth, there was an underground lake. Its smooth, dark surface stretched away until it was hidden behind a bend in the crystal walls. It was impossible to tell how big the cavern was.

The cave seemed brighter in here somehow. Something besides Addie was casting light. It was hard to tell the source though. There were no real shadows. It almost seemed like the crystals themselves were glowing faintly.

Addie let her Flash attack fade.

I hesitated, then stepped up to the edge of the lake. I didn't have a Pokémon with me that knew Surf. I suppose I could swim, if I had to. But I'd rather not risk that if I could help it. Especially with the risk of sharp crystals beneath the surface. Maybe my Scyther…

The surface of the water began to stir. Several heads peeked out from the water and examined me. I stared back at them. They were Dratini and Dragonair! There were at least 20 of them!

"Oh, hi," I said uncertainly. "I need to talk with the King of the Island. Is he here?"

The Dratini and Dragonair turned to look at eath other. They exchanged a few words and turned back to me. A Dragonair lifter herself out of the water and gave a high, keening cry that echoed back into the depths of the cavern.

She slipped back into the water, and for a while there was silence. Then we heard a rushing sound. The cave made the noise echo and bounce back and forth, making the thing sound much louder than it was. As it was, it sounding like it was made by something HUMUNGOUS. I involuntarily took a step backwards. Addie clung to my ankle, trembling.

A large, dark shape hurtled into view and rocketed directly at me. I gave a cry and practically fell backwards. But then the thing snapped out its wings and came to a direct halt barely inches in front of me.

My heart pounding, I finally looked up at the King of the Island.

Dragonite.

He lowered his head and sniffed me. I flinched a bit, quite aware that he could easily crush me.

He drew back a bit to look at me, cocking his head from side to side..

"Ah, can I ask you something?" I said once I was relatively sure that I could keep my voice steady. I wasn't usually afraid around Pokémon…

_So, can you understand me? _He asked. _Most humans can't. _

I nodded. "Yeah. I hear you."

_Then, what did you have to ask? _

_Oh, well, I was wondering if you'd follow me somewhere. I just want to… introduce you to someone and then you can come back here. _

_Introduce me to someone? Why can't he come here? _

_Well, it's hard for humans to get up here. _

Dragonite laughed. _Well, I suppose that's true. Now, were you going to try to catch me? _

I quickly shook my head. _No, like I said, you can leave after you've met him. _

_So, why does this person want to meet me? _

_Oh, I guess because he really likes Pokémon. _I thought that it would be really disrespectful to say that he was the goal of a scavenger hunt.

He smirked a bit. _Oh, very well. Why not? Are we leaving now? _

_Sure, if you're okay with that. _My heart leapt. He said he'd come with us! I was sure Jed hadn't expected anyone to locate the King so easily and persuade him to come back.

Dragonite's gaze turned upwards to something behind me.

I turned around to see what he was looking at.

Someone was standing in the tunnel entrance. Two someone's actually. A boy and a Pokémon. A Victreebel, and… Kevin!

Before I could react to their presence, something floated over my head, towards Dragonite and the Dratini in the pond.

I whirled to watch it. It was a Venomoth. And as it drew over Dragonite, a sparkling blue powerd drifted off of its wings.

Dragonite hadn't reacted to the new trainer's presence because he assumed that the boy and I were allies. So the Sleep Powder took him by surprise. The moment he realized he was under attack, he bared his teeth and tensed, ready to spring at the Venomoth. But he didn't get a chance to. His eyes drooped and he tottered blearily. Then with a mighty crash, he toppled sideways onto the ground. The Dratini and Dragonair had already floated to the surface of the water, snoozing deeply.

I whirled around furiously, but before I could take a step, vines wrapped themselves around me and pinned my arms to my side. Another vine wrapped around Addie.

Kevin smirked.

"What are you doing?" I shouted. "What's wrong with you! Let us go!"

Kevin turned to look at Addie.

"Oh, look," he said lightly. "This Pokémon is from the island. The rules were that you couldn't catch any of the wild Pokémon here except the King."

"I didn't catch her! She's help…"

I couldn't say anything further because one of Victreebel's vines closed over my mouth.

"You shut up!" he shouted. "You don't deserve to win! I NEED this money!"

I couldn't respond except for a fiery glare. I wriggled desperately, but Victreebel's hold was too tight.

"Plaa, plaaaa!" Addie cried, trying and failing to squirm free.

Kevin couldn't get away with this! _He_ was the one who was cheating, and Jed wouldn't give him a prize at all! My thoughts flashed back to what Nia had told me: that his Grandmother was in the hospital and that his family couldn't afford to treat everything that she had. Would he really resort to this sort of thing? We didn't even know what the prize was!

Kevin was silent for a moment. He was probably trying to figure out a way to keep me from talking. My camera was still waiting outside, so he couldn't trap me here without people finding out what had happened. Though I wondered if he'd even think of sinking that low. I really had no idea what he was like. I could only assume that it was desperation that drove him.

Kevin hesitated for a moment. Then he set his face in a determined expression. "Venomoth," he said, raising a hand. He was going to have Venomoth use Sleep Powder.

_Addie, use Thunder! _

_But if I do that, you'll get zapped too! _I knew that. The attack would travel through Victreeel's vines and hit me as well. But that didn't matter now.

_Just do it! _

_OK! _

"Pla, pulaaaa!" Addie began to spark. Kevin turned to her, startled. He hadn't known that she was an electric Pokémon. But before he could react, Addie released an explosion of electric power. I shut my eyes and grit my teeth, preparing myself for the blast.

The force hit me like a ton of bricks, or worse. My muscles tensed up and my body spasmed uncontrollably. As Victreebel's vines loosened from my mouth, I let out a scream.

Victreebel dropped to the ground, toasted. I collapsed onto hands and knees. My clothes were smoking slightly and I was gasping for breath. I hadn't expected her attack to be half that strong.

There was another zapping sound and Venomoth fell to the ground.

Kevin cursed loudly and reached to his belt for another Pokémon.

Trembling, I forced my hand to my belt. If I could get my Alakazam to use Hypnosis, or something... My fingers were numb from the force of the electric attack, and I fumbled.

By then, Kevin had reached his next Pokémon and released it. Charizard.

Charizard lunged forward and shoved me over. My Pokéballs were knocked loose and they went rolling in every direction. Addie made a jump for one of then, but Charizard's tail swept her into the lake.

Charizard placed a huge foot directly beside me, where I was half sprawled on the rough cave floor. I'd skinned my elbow, but I hardly noticed.

"Do you think your Grandma will want money that you gain in this way!" I shouted. I hadn't meant to say it. It had just come out. But Kevin froze, a shocked impression on his face. His hands fell limp to his sides and he stared blankly at me.

Venomoth regained its composure and forced himself airborne once more. Though Kevin didn't order anything, the moth Pokémon came forwards to complete the attack it had failed when Addie knocked him out of the sky.

Addie tried to scramble to shore to help me. Kevin hadn't moved. As I tried to drag myself out of the way, I slipped and landed flat on my face.

Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a stream black shapes streak in through the tunnel entrance. The Unown!

The Unown filled the cavern, buzzing in circles around Charizard and Venomoth. Within moments, the two Pokémon and their trainer drooped sleepily and sank to the floor, fast asleep. The Unown all gathered together in the ceter of the chamber, emitted a series of squeaks in my general direction, and swept from the room as suddenly as they'd appeared.

I sat up and stared after them. Addie had scrambled ashore, and the cave was once again completely silent. Kevin and his Pokémon had been put to sleep by the Unown?

I breathed deeply until I felt in control of my body once more. I slowly stood and went to gather my Pokéballs. Then I went to Kevin and returned his three Pokémon. I didn't want them waking up yet.

_Are you okay? _Addie asked, concerned. She'd noticed that I was still involuntarily trembling from the force of her attack.

I nodded. "Yeah. I'll be fine. Thank you."

_You have a cut on your elbow. _

I glanced at my arm and saw she was right. But I ignored it for the moment.

Now that Kevin's Pokémon were returned, I pulled my Pokéflute from my bag and began to play. I could produce nothing more than a shaky sound in my state, but it was enough. Dragonite and the Dratini slowly awakened and blinked around blearily.

_What happened? _Dragonite demanded, sitting up and preparing for a battle that had already ended.

_I'm sorry about that, _I groaned. _He… well, I don't know what to say about him. But you're okay, right? _

Dragonite nodded. He shot a glare down at the boy who was sprawled on the floor, asleep.

_What happened? _

_The Unown put him to sleep. _

_The Unown? Here? _Dragonite glanced around in surprise.

_They left already. They came to help us, I guess. _

_I'm amazed. They can be so unpredictable. You definitely don't want them on your bad side. _

I nodded. _Yeah, but the game's over. I… would really like to get out of here now, if you don't mind. _

Dragonite eyed me a bit warily. I couldn't blame him after he'd been attacked without provocation.

_Very well. Let's go. _

Dragonite stomped towards the tunnel and bent to lift Kevin. Addie and I followed as Dragonite began to make his way through the tunnel that was barely large enough to admit him. He brought Kevin with him, which was helpful considering it would have been really hard for me to get him out of here on my own.

When we reached the opening in the cliff, we found that it was almost completely dark. A slpash of color lit the sky where the sun had vanished. There wreally was an amazing view from here.

Dragonite spread his wings and glided downwards a bit before he hovered to wait for me. I released Charren and Addie and I got on her back once more.

At last, we headed back to the house.

By the time we arrived, it was truly dark. But the lights of the house stood out like a beacon.

Ben sprinted out to greet us as we landed. Jed was right behind him.

"Ah, we have a winner! We'll have to call back the other trainers." Jed looked very excited and he leaned this way and that to examine Dragonite.

"CARA!" Ben shouted exuberantly. He turned his head as Dragonite deposited Kevin on the ground. "What happened to him?"

I hesitated. I could tell them what happened. I could… Dragonite watched me, head cocked. He barely spared Jed a second glance though he was still looking Dragonite over.

"Some wild Pokémon attacked him in the cave," I said. Up on my shoulder, Addie was nodding vigorously. Dragonite hesitated, then he nodded as well. _" _Did you see all those funny black Pokémon fly into the tunnel? On your camera?"

Jed nodded. "Yes. What on Earth were those?"

I turned away to look at the shadow that the Avalon mountain made in front of the stars.

"They're Unknown," I said at last. "They put him to sleep. They didn't hurt him. But listen… Uh, Mr. Anders" I figured it would sound too informal to call him Jed when I'd only known him for a day, "If the prize is money… I want you to give it to him. I don't really care too much about money. I mean… it can make people act in really horrible ways. And Nia told me that his Grandma's in the hospital so… I think he needs money more than I do."

Jed was silent for a minute, then he beamed. "I like that! Have you ever heard that song? The line goes 'I don't' care too much for money, because money can't buy me love.' That's what you reminded me of just now. But do you want to know about the prize?"

I nodded.

"Actually, there was no specific prize. I wanted to see who won first." He turned to Dragonite and gave a nod, which Dragonite returned politely. "See, there was one prize that I only wanted to give to someone if they'd truly appreciate it. The prize was never money. Money is too simple. However, I'd be glad to make a donation to his grandmother. What good is money unless you use it for something useful? Though much of my family would disagree. But the _real _prize, I think you're someone who'd appreciate it. Tell me, what do you think of Avalon?"

I wasn't sure how this subject had come up so suddenly. I took a deep breath, wondering where to start. "It's absolutely beautiful! It's like paradise, or something!"

Jed nodded. "Yes. Do you know where the name Avalon comes from?"

"The King Arthur legends, right? A paradise island… or something. I think."

"Pretty much. Cara, I'd like you to stay here."

"What?"

Jed laughed at the blank expression on my face. "That's what I said. The prize is that you are welcome to stay here for as long as you like. You and your friends," he nodded to Ben. "I don't come here often enough. I'm almost always tied up on the mainland. And I though that some trainers would love to stay here and keep an eye on things. Besides, thiss much more interesting than hiring a handful of maids." He winked at us. "I'd of course pay for the normal house-keeping bills. Keeping a house running can cost quite a lot," he said thoughtfully.

I stared at him in disbelief.

"And Ben," he continued, "your knowledge of electronics is truly fascinating for someone your age. I enjoyed talking with you today. I have connections – people who you might be interested to meet. You might want to work for some of them. Like my cousin who worked on the Pokédex."

Ben lit up. "Thank you, sir!"

Jed glanced thoughtfully out towards the mountain. "And of course with you still on your Pokémon journey, Cara, you'll want to get back to the mainland when you're not staying here. So we'll have to figure out transportation… You know, I haven't even asked you yet. Do you _want _to stay here?_" _

"O-of course!" I exclaimed. "I love it here! And you're right, I'd want to go back to the mainland sometimes, but I could keep all my Pokémon here and, and maybe I could even get a warp panel thing from Sabrina, or something. Or Alakazam could teleport me back and forth, I guess…"

"Warp panels," Jed repeated. "How interesting. I don't know much about those. Oh, I was wondering, how did you know where Dragonite was? How did you know what you were searching for? You came back so fast! You weren't even gone a full day!"

I froze. Could I tell him? Would it sound like cheating _if_ I told him?

I opened my mouth, and then slowly said, "I can talk to Pokémon."

Jed's eyes widened. "Really? Fascinating. Indeed, truly fascinating."

As Jed continued talking, I turned my gaze inland. The emerging moon cast a silvery glow to the island and stars twinkled I the sky.

Avalon. This paradise. My home.

(The next story is officially up!)


End file.
